


The Rival Investigators

by vividegoist



Category: (여자)아이들 | (G)I-DLE, BVNDIT (Band), EVERGLOW (Band), ITZY (Band), IZONE (Band), LOONA (Korea Band), Oh My Girl (Band), PRISTIN (Band), TWICE (Band), fromis_9 (Band)
Genre: A lot of pics ahead, Corruption, Crime Fighting, Detectives, Doctors, F/F, Firefighters, Fluff and Angst, Gun Violence, Investigations, Mystery, Secrets, mafia, twitter au lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-01-16 19:36:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 179,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21276575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vividegoist/pseuds/vividegoist
Summary: Heejin and Hyunjin, rivals and infamous young prodigies of the investigative industry are forced to work together when a previously unsolvable case reopens after new evidence surfaces: The disappearance of Son Hyejoo.This story is written by two authors





	1. Introduction

**Prologue**

On a police-taped off street, still early in the morning, Jeon Heejin had just finished investigating the scene of a car accident, taking off her white gloves and handing them over to another police officer. She walked up to lieutenant Im Nayeon to report her findings.

  
“Seems like it was an accident, alright. But the tire marks on the sidewalk says otherwise. I'm assuming this is a DUI case, lieutenant.”  
  
“Good observations, Detective Jeon. I'll see what else we can do from here, thank you for your help.”  
  
“Anytime, lieutenant-  
  
“She’s wrong!”

  
  
That voice had never irritated Heejin enough. Both Nayeon and Heejin looked in the direction where the voice came from, only to see Hyunjin running up to them, a Ziploc bag in hand. From that distance though, they couldn’t see what exactly was in the bag.

  
  
“This accident was in fact, a car chase!”  
  
“A car chase?” Nayeon questioned curiously.  
  
“And why in the world do you think that?” the other detective questioned sarcastically with a smirk, earning a glare from Hyunjin.  
  
“Because,” she looked at Heejin one more time before holding up the Ziploc bag, full of gold jewelry, “I found this in the car that crashed into the pole. The chaser was definitely after these and is still loose.”  
  
“Any other findings, detective Kim?”  
  
“That's all for now, lieutenant Im!” Hyunjin saluted as Heejin scoffed in annoyance.  
  
“I shall have a word with the other officers about this matter. In the meantime, please look out for more evidence to both of your possible cases.” Nayeon takes the Ziploc from Hyunjin before walking away. Both of their eyes follow the lieutenant before glaring at each other.  
  
“You never know when to back off, do you, Kim?”  
  
“Awww, gettin’ all whiny that I stole your pretty little spotlight? Just admit I'm better.” Hyunjin stuck her tongue out at Heejin, who reflected the same action back.

  
  
“I've already solved 7 cases, Kim. So watch your mouth!”  
  
“Oh yeah? I'm close to solving 8 cases, starting with this one!”  
  
“This is MY case, so MY CREDIT!”  
  
“Tch. Dumbass, how is it an accident? I just showed you my evidence!”  
  
“That isn’t even solid evidence! Do you have CCTV footages?”  
  
“No?”  
  
“Exactly!”

  
  
The other officers around them could only roll their eyes or sigh at their never-ending bickering, losing hope that someday, they'll be mature enough to not fight like this. They were very close to a fist fight, until both of their phones chimed at the same time. It was the superintendent of their district. Both their eyes widened in shock at the exact same message on both screens.

  
_ My office, now._

“You got a message too, Jeon?” Hyunjin hesitantly asked.

“Yep.”

“The superintendent?”

“....How'd you know?” Heejin squinted her eyes at Hyunjin when she showed her phone, the contact label reading _ the scariest lady ever _.

“Looks like I'm being promoted.”

“Pft! You wish, Kim.”

“I'm willing to bet promotion. What do you say, Jeon?” 

“To be more mature than your idiotic claim, I'm betting that she has a new assignment for _ me _.” Heejin smiled with pride as Hyunjin was just about ready to throw up. 

“Why would she ever assign anything to you?” 

“Perk up a bit, Kim. I've always been the best officer anyway.”

“Ok, _ smart ass _! First one to get there wins.”

“Oh, you're on!!”

With that being said, both detectives immediately sprinted to their cars and sped to Taeyeon's office. By the time they reached the district headquarters, the two stubborn rivals raced each other up the stairs, bumping into many of their peers and seniors on the way. Once they reached the door to Taeyeon's fancy office, they both unfortunately got stuck in between the entrance since they simultaneously rushed in. Seeing the superintendent's icy glare, they nervously chuckled and made small waves at their senior. They only made the situation worse when Taeyeon frowned at them, being taken aback at such hostility. 

Because they couldn't figure out a way to get out of their spot in the entrance, Taeyeon had to call her assistant, Lee Chaeyeon, to shove both of them out of the entrance and onto the two chairs that had been waiting for them.

“Now. Straight to my purpose for this meeting.”

Heejin and Hyunjin glanced nervously at each other and then back to Taeyeon. They seated themselves properly before listening.

“Are you aware of the news today, detective?” 

“Can't say that I am, superintendent.”

“Me neither.” 

“Well, that's not surprising. The busiest ones are always the hard working. But to make this quick, I've officially reopened the case of Son Hyejoo's disappearance.”

Heejin stared blankly ahead of her, not quite at Taeyeon but just forward. At merely nothing. She didn’t know what to feel right now after hearing the news, it was all a gray jumble in her head.  
  
There was a new lead on Hyejoo...?  
  
There was finally a trace?  
  
Something that Heejin couldn’t find after days and nights on end of relentless searching. Those days spent trying to find anything, _ anything _ Hyejoo had left behind. But it was always dead end after dead end. When the case closed, she couldn’t forgive herself for failing Hyejoo. But now, there was hope with a new lead. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing; it was like a dream come true. She stole a quick glance at Hyunjin, who was also leaning forward, eager to hear more, too focused on Taeyeon to glare at her.

“No way! Are you serious?” Hyunjin's shocked voice broke Heejin out of her trance.

“But…why though? Is there a lead?” 

“I'm glad you asked.”

Taeyeon then retrieved her phone from her pocket and played Hyejoo's frantic voicemail for the two rivals. They listened intently, narrowing their eyes at the phone screen showing the sound waves flowing Hyejoo's voice. It was if they were seeing what was going on, what was happening on the other side, and how it all played out. When it was the voicemail ended, everything fell silent. Dreadfully silent. Something in them told them they needed to do something fast if they wanted to see their old friend again.

_ ……… _ ** _(static) _ **

_ he-- hey!! _

** _(static)_ **

_ can-.... can anyone hear me?! _

** _(static)_ **

_ I-I think I found-.... _

** _(static)_ **

_ something!!! I have--.... evidence!! I-- _

** _(static) ….(static)_ **

_ might not make it…….. _

** _(static)_ **

_ I love you--.... _

** _(static)_ **

_ guys…….. _

_ AAHH!!!----- _

** _bzzzzzzzz_** _………... _

  
  
“So, Jeon, Kim. You both were very dedicated to Son Hyejoo’s case when she first went missing, correct?”  
  
“Yes.” They said in unison, which caused more glares to be exchanged. Taeyeon sighed.  
  
“I'm assigning this case to you, Kim Hyunjin.” 

“YES!”

“_And _ you too, Jeon Heejin.”

_ HUH? _

Hyunjin’s mouth fell open at the news at that moment. It was as if the whole universe was against her right now. She didn't know what was going on and she absolutely didn't like it. Heejin didn't understand how much this case meant to her. But little did she know, Heejin felt same way, but she was too focused on Taeyeon’s words when she received permission to investigate the case as well. 

“Aw come on!

“Wonderful!” Heejin exclaimed joyfully and smirked at Hyunjin who scoffed in response.

“Why are we both investigating the same case?”

“Kim Hyunjin…I always knew you were oblivious but I didn't expect you'd be this oblivious.” Taeyeon said, resisting the urge to facepalm. The mentioned girl cowered in her seat in embarrassment while Heejin was trying her best to contain her amused smile. 

“I'm assigning this case to both of you because you're currently the best detectives in our league since Hyejoo disappeared. I'm know you both were well acquainted with Son Hyejoo and that you'll be able to solve her case within a short period of time. And together as partners, you're handling this case with the assistance of Captain Haseul's team.”

"Wait wait wait wait did you just say_ partners_?”

“I am not repeating myself, detective Kim.” Taeyeon narrowed her eyes at her.

“B-but, there must be a bit of misunderstanding, superintendent-” 

“Also, for convenience’s sake, Kim Hyunjin will be transferred to your station. No objections.”

“What? I-”

“Our meeting is done here.”

Before Hyunjin could finish her sentence, she and Heejin were escorted out by Chaeyeon. The door slammed shut before they could go back in and refute their partnership. How the hell was their rivalry going to get them through this mess?

“Welp…there we have it.” Heejin leaned back on the wall and sighed as she put her hands in her pocket.

“Whatever. I'm still doing this by myself.”

“Take the words out of my mouth, why don't you.” Heejin chuckled before exiting the headquarters to her car. 

Hyunjin groaned and followed Heejin out the door before walking to her own car.

  
—

  
“You must be Kim Hyunjin!” Haseul smiled at the new comer trailing in a defeated manner behind Heejin.  
  
“Yep. That's me, the more experienced officer here.” Hyunjin smirked and Heejin rolled her eyes for 10th time that day.  
  
“Haseul, you know me better, and you know that I’m better, right?”  
  
“U-uh...anyways! Please follow me to your new desk arrangements.”

They did as told and followed Haseul inside. The station was very busy and packed, but they were still able to find two desks waiting for them. Right in front of one another. Just great.  
  
The team near the area stared at the duo with curiosity and admiration, and a teensy bit of dread. They heard a lot about Hyunjin and all the cases she solved at such a young age, almost a mirror image of their own station’s prodigy, Heejin, at least in that field. They also heard the other teams complaining about how they never stop arguing when in a twenty feet radius of each other, and were a little scared to deal with it firsthand.

“This is your desk. We’re quite busy right now so unfortunately, there won't be anyone free to give a little tour around this station today, unless Heejin would be willing to.. which I don’t think she is.”  
  
“That's fine, because I'm about to get busy too.” Hyunjin stated before sitting down on at her desk. Heejin sat at the edge of the opposing desk, and turned to look at Haseul, trying her best to catch her eye with a pleading look. Haseul stared at the desks.  
  
“Superintendent Kim also informed me that you guys are partners for this case?”  
  
“Ugh, yeah. Unfortunately.”  
  
“We're both very… We're always arguing.” Heejin said to Haseul who awkwardly nodded and glanced between the both of them.  
  
“It wouldn't be so out of hand if you just kindly admitted I'm the better officer.”  
  
“And let an amateur like you win over me?”  
  
“You take that back!”

Hyunjin growled stood up from her chair as Heejin did the same. Pretty soon, they both began bickering again and all eyes in the room were now on them, scared and confused. Haseul was speechless and even as captain, she too didn't know what to do with them. Sooyoung stood next to her and whispered.

“How exactly is this going to work out? I don't think rivals like them will get anything done.”  
  
“We can only hope superintendent knew what she was doing, but now I'm questioning, what the hell was she thinking?"

**Additional profiles! **

**Introducing the main members of Haseul’s team! (1/3) **

  * **Haseul, Captain of this station, and Vivi, co-captain**

** **

** **

**Haseul’s main team (2/3)**

**Sooyoung, who likes to go by Yves, Jiwoo, who’s gay, and Yeojin, Haseul’s lil sis who’s technically not old enough to be there yet but she helps around with hacking :) **

** **

** **

** **

**Haseul’s main team (3/3)**

**Chaewon, who hasn’t changed her bio in two years, and Hyejoo, who’s account is dusty.**

** **

** **

**Okay!! The last of profiles for now: They don’t work at the station but they’ll be important later on.**

As an hour passed since Heejin and Hyunjin began their noisy quarrel, Haseul sighed heavily and massaged her temple. The two obnoxious detectives have been trading snarky comments for over an hour now and it didn’t seem like they were stopping anytime soon. They were also so absorbed in insulting each other they didn’t realize everyone in the station was quiet besides them.

Someone touched Haseul's shoulder briefly and she was ready to judo flip whoever it was until she realized it was Vivi. Her expression softened slightly until Heejin shouted again and she winced at the volume. The station workers found it difficult to concentrate on their work and barely got anything done. Haseul had tried enduring this mess, but now she was starting to regret not doing anything sooner. Whatever Vivi wanted, it would have to wait because this was absolutely _not _going to continue any longer. 

She stood up abruptly before marching towards their desks as eyes watched the captain intently. She slammed her hands down angrily on the back of the two disruptors’ heads. Everyone flinched at the painfully deafening sound of the smack.

“OW!! JESUS CHRIST, HASEUL!” Heejin rubbed her head, trying to ease the pain from head while Hyunjin hissed as she clutched her head.

“I think you just gave me a concussionー” The dizziness was starting to hurt.

“I don't want to hear another argument from you both! Got it?!” They were shaken at Haseul's temper before looking at each other and then back to their captain.

“Can I just sit somewhere else? You know, where I don't have to see _ that _.” Hyunjin pointed towards Heejin's direction as the other rolled her eyes. 

“You either deal with it or quit your job!” 

The two detectives sighed as Haseul glared menacingly at them. She wouldn't hesitate to smack their heads again if they started arguing again so she could only hope they'd finally stop their disputes unless they want their skulls to crack open.

The station resumed their work at their respective desks. Haseul and Sooyoung were in the corner looking through old documents in the cabinets, Yeojin and Chaewon were busy trying to hack into the voicemail to find where it was last recorded, Chuu was making calls, and Vivi was frustrated at her desk while searching through piles and piles of paperwork that could possibly help find Hyejoo. Heejin and Hyunjin, on the other hand, were searching through the web, also looking for clues. Everyone was interrupted when Yeojin and Chaewon groaned loudly, mostly with irritation. Concerned, the captain approached them. 

“What's wrong?”

“Ugh! No matter how many times I've tried, I can't get into the damn system. Something's blocking me!” Yeojin tossed her pen somewhere on her desk, annoyed with all workload she had to suffer just to track a lousy area where Hyejoo could've last been seen in.

“Me too. I kept connecting my hard drive to the voicemail so I can get ahold of the information.” Gowon agreed with Yeojin. 

“Hmm. What seems to be blocking?”

“I don't know, but I can't seem to get through it….” 

Haseul sensed Gowon's sorrow with the way she ended her sentence. She sighed, placing a hand on the younger girl's shoulder in hopes to comfort her as much as possible. She knew of Gowon's relationship with Hyejoo and how they could never leave each other’s side back then. She missed seeing her junior's smile, but even in this situation, they couldn't give up now and let this opportunity go to waste.

“Wait.” Yeojin’s quick change in attitude brought everyone's attention on her. “I might find a way to locate this voicemail if I have access the satellites in every city of South Korea.”

“Then which satellites do you have now?” Gowon's relief reflected the team's as well, all listening intently at this point. 

“Right now…” She trails off as she skimmed over the map on her computer screen. “I have every area except…Daegu!” 

All the members of the station gathered around Yeojin's desk to see, but it got so crowded to the point where Haseul had to instruct them to remain at their desks for safety sake. Heejin and Hyunjin finally got the chance to look at the screen. That was when it clicked.

“Here you go. This is the hard drive you need to connect and extract all the data from Daegu's satellite. Once it's done, it'll flash a small green light at the bottom right here. You take it out and leave immediately.” Yeojin handed over the hard drive to Heejin.

“How long will it take for everything to get in this thing?” Heejin examined the hard drive.

“Well…Daegu is trash as fuck, so…it might take like an hour or more.” 


	2. Daegu, The Satellite

Within that moment, Heejin began to panic before hiding in the restroom stall and Hyunjin was just about ready to pass out. The station members had no idea what to do because it was too unexpected. Why were the two most finest detectives acting like this when they've been to Daegu throughout most of their lives?

“Look! You don't understand. It's creepier at night!!” Hyunjin grabbed onto Haseul's shoulders with both hands to emphasize her fears more clearly. 

“Hyunjin, Hyunjin, _ breath _…” Haseul placed her hands on both of the young detective's arms to try and sooth her a bit. 

“Please don't make me stay out there for an hour! ESPECIALLY with that _ thing _ with me the whole entire time!!”

“Hyunjin! For christ sake, just listen to me and calm down.”

Hyunjin is able to calm herself down, taking deep breaths after deep breaths. Jiwoo was also sitting beside her, rubbing her arm to try and comfort her. The captain tried to reassure her teammate one more time.

“You'll be fine. I'm not sending just you and Heejin to Daegu.”

“You're not?” Hyunjin was a little too enthusiastic, earning an eye roll from her captain.

“Jiwoo and Yuqi, are also joining you. Jiwoo's been doing taekwondo for almost 8 years now and Yuqi's a tech geek like Yeojin and Gowon. She'll help speed up the extraction from the satellite, ok?” 

“Alright…that doesn't sound too bad. But I…” 

“Hm?”

“Uh- might need a bulletproof vest.”

Haseul blinked and stared at Hyunjin, bewildered at her odd question. “Y-you what?”

“A bulletproof vest. Just incase.” 

“Um…ok. Sure.”

The captain, still very astonished, disappeared into the storage room to locate a spare vest for the panicky detective. Meanwhile, Sooyoung and Vivi were waiting right outside Heejin's stall, sighing at the amount of attempts they've done to get the young girl out in that tiny room. She tried to ignore the pounding on the door and instead had another staring contest with herself in the mirror of her phone while trying to mentally encourage herself.

_ You can do this Heejin. _

She said to her reflection. If she said it enough times she would believe it. She was on her sixth or seventh time when Sooyoung's voice knocked her out of the zone.

“Heejin, please just come out. I thought you liked Daegu.” Sooyoung deadpanned, knowing very well Daegu was nowhere near peaceful at all.

“No!! I'm not coming out!”

“Sweetie, if you wanna find Hyejoo, you need to do something about it. I'm sure she wouldn't like you hiding from your fears.” Vivi added on, hoping it'd motivate the young detective somehow.

“Please don't bring up Hye like that….” Heejin mumbled sadly while hugging her knees on the toilet, slightly rocking back and forth out of instinct.

“I know it's still really hard to accept that Hye…isn't here with us right now but believe me, I hate it too. And I sure as hell ain't giving up till I find out what happened to her. So will you please come out now and help us, Heejin-ah?”

“……maybe.”

Facepalming herself, Sooyoung finally decided she had enough and took out a bent paper clip and began quietly picking the lock on Heejin’s stall door. Vivi chuckled at the sight, only for it to be cut short when Sooyoung suddenly barged into the stall and Heejin began screaming for her life as they both dragged her out. 

Alarmed by fearful screaming, everyone's attention was absorbed at the sight of Sooyoung lifting Heejin by the shoulders while Vivi was handling her ankles. 

“NO NO PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE OUT THERE! I'M SO YOUNG!”

“Heejin, stop screaming, you're not going alone with Hyunjin!” 

“Really??”

“Jiwoo and Yuqi are going with you.”

The immediate relief in Heejin’s eyes earned an obvious scoff from Hyunjin who was trying to put on the vest, still slightly shaking as she equipped it. Heejin knew Jiwoo had a black belt, so she would surely be safe. She hadn't known Yuqi that well since the computer nerd had only become a new member of their station a 4 months ago, but she could rely on her for any tech support.

On the other hand, Hyunjin looked around a little more to find what else she might need, her eyes locked onto the pocketknife on Vivi's desk, and they instantly lit up. She was desperate for anything that she can use to protect herself. Carefully approaching it, she made sure no one else was looking at her. Everyone seemed to busy dealing with Heejin so all of their backs were turned. Hyunjin hastily grabbed the small weapon and shoved it down her pocket for safe keeping.

Ignoring the paranoia taking over her, she quickly rejoined everyone calming Heejin down, pushing her way through the small crowd and grabbing the other detective's wrist, dragging her away to separate themselves for space. 

“Alright, uh…I think we're ready!” 

“W-what?? No no no no no that doesn't apply to-”

“I really wanna get this over with so we're going now while it's still a bit early, _ ok _?” 

Heejin might as well get charged for murder because she wanted nothing than to rip Hyunjin's head off right now. This betrayal will never be forgotten. 

“I know you're new and all, but I can’t believe you sometimes.” Haseul mumbled and sighed before continuing, “Now go prepare yourself, be ready to leave in fifteen.”

Oh that was plenty of time. 

The two prodigies made their way into the storage room, quickly searching through cabinets, boxes, closets, etc. to find anything that can be useful for their mission. As time passed by quickly, they didn't have much choice but to stick to the items they were able. Heejin found a taser and a small handgun while Hyunjin could only find another pocket knife. 

“This is so unfair. Why do _ you _ get the good stuff?”

“I'm just luckier than you.” Heejin directed her signature smirk at her rival.

“Do you even know how to use them? A handgun requires a lot of training, you know.” Hyunjin retorted with facts, but failed to make her win.

“I'm a prodigy for a reason, dumbass. How do you think I got this job?” 

As Heejin walked exited the storage room, Hyunjin snarled at her from behind before following her. The next thing they knew, they were in a regular car that had a detachable siren instead of a police car. Figuring that it wouldn’t be the best idea to bring such a visually loud car to Daegu, they decided to take the siren off the roof. Heejin, who had insisted on driving, was forced to ride shotgun after finding out they were riding in Hyunjin's car. 

“Welp. We might as well die early tonight since you're driving.” 

The younger girl glared at Heejin with anger. “How about staying quiet for the whole night if you're just gonna be an asshole 24/7.”

“I honestly would've if I was doing this alone.”

“You hiding in the bathroom says otherwise.” Heejin snapped her gaze at Hyunjin, scowling at her rival for poking fun at her fear of Daegu.

“You're no different either, bastard!!” 

As they had yet another feud, they were completely unaware of Jiwoo and Yuqi hiding in darkness of the backseat, waiting for the perfect moment to scare their friends. The minute their argument went on, both Jiwoo and Yuqi abruptly appeared from behind, screaming:

“BOOOOO!!!!!”

The two quarreling detectives shrieked at the top of their lungs, looking absolutely terrified as they're friends broke into laughter.

“Oh my god, you should've seen your faces!” Yuqi was trying to breath in between her giggling with Jiwoo, who just clutched onto the nerd's arm, struggling to control herself from laughing too hard.

“You guys are such jerks….” Heejin was focusing on capturing her breath, her hand placed on her chest to try and regulate her heart beat.

Hyunjin was panting, giving a dirty look at her friends snickering while pointing fingers at both her and Heejin. 

“Ok, ok stop laughing at me already! You've had your fun, now we're going.” 

“Alright, sounds good.” Yuqi said in between her chuckles before the car began moving.

As the minutes passed by, Hyunjin was too busy driving while Heejin was on her phone. This made them both too occupied to argue, which Yuqi and Jiwoo were very grateful for.  
  
The car finally came to a stop after what seemed like forever. Yuqi gently shook Jiwoo awake before when they were getting closer to Daegu. Not only that, Yuqi also noticed how the back of the rivals’ hands were absentmindedly touching each other. Jiwoo let out a small gremlin laugh before sneaking a picture, which made Yuqi laugh. The sound made them look back at their friends and then immediately noticed their hands before moving away from each other in disgust.

  
“We’re in Daegu.” Yuqi announced when the digital map on her phone notified her, as if it weren’t obvious already. Heejin shivered and unconsciously reached behind for Jiwoo’s hand, which made the older girl giggle and grab onto Heejin's to comfort her. Hyunjin unbuckled, but was hesitant to get out. Yuqi, with a raised a eyebrow, lightly knocked on Hyunjin's window, signaling her to get out. She sighed and stepped out of the car before stretching like a cat. Heejin scoffed at her rival before getting out of the car herself.

“Why'd you part so far from the gate?” Heejin frustratingly questioned as Hyunjin rolled her eyes.

“So they don't see my car, _ duh _.” 

“Oh that's a good idea! We don't want anymore trouble than we already have.” Yuqi mumbled, also sharing the same fear about Daegu.

All four arrivals cautiously approached the tall gates leading to the hell hole they're about to enter. Yuqi studied the area around them, unconsciously stepping back towards Heejin and bumping into her, quickly apologizing before intertwining her arms with the younger girl for relaxation. Jiwoo was about to open the gate and enter when Hyunjin suddenly intervened. 

“W-wait! We should find the satellite first. It could be a trap if we through this gate.”

“Hyunjin, we need to finish this quickly so we don't have much time.” 

"I know, it's just…the gates don't feel right.” 

“Come on, you and your loony brain are already slowing us down before we even started.” Heejin grunted as Hyunjin snapped at her.

“Save it, asshole!” 

“Hey hey hey! Let's just go around and find someplace where we can view this dump and find the satellite.” Yuqi went in between them to halt their argument. “Do you guys have any idea where to go? I've never been to Daegu before.” 

“I'll lead.” The two detectives gave dirty looks to each other and their two other friends facepalmed. 

“Why did I even ask?” Yuqi mumbled before pulling up the map on her phone, depicting a clear view of Daegu. 

The tech geek shivered as she looked around the abandoned areas in Daegu. Everyone else with her, gulping nervously. All the buildings looked like they could be haunted, images of old houses that were once owned now began to shiver away. Hollow subways and tunnels were more disturbing and gloomier. Whatever reason this hell hole wasn't intervened by the government yet was beyond them. The last purpose Heejin and Hyunjin expected to revisit Daegu was to find a lousy satellite so they could hack into a voicemail belonging to their old friend.

“Oh! There it is!” Yuqi smiled as she pointed to rickety old satellite on the flat roof of a 7 story building. Except, there wasn't just a satellite.

“W-what the hell is _ that _??” Heejin grimaced at the creature standing right at the doorway to the building where the satellite was located. 

They couldn't see what the creature was because it was too dark to see anything. However, they could definitely make out its body structure. Its height was eerily intimidating, standing tall at what seemed like 7ft. Its lanky arms ended with sharp claws that looked like it could easily rip anything in its path apart. Still holding her phone, Yuqi began to shake uncontrollably because the more she looked at the mysteriously terrifying monster, or whatever the hell it was, the more she started regretting being apart of this mission. 

“I-I always knew Daegu was an atrocious place, b-but now…I really wanna- g-go home.” Yuqi was on the verge of tears and her friends tried to ease her fears, reminding her that they're all in this together. 

“Yuqi, it'll be fine, you have us. We'll get through this together.” Jiwoo back hugged her friend, hoping it'd at least calm her down.

“Trust me, I wanna get the fuck out of here, too. But we're doing this for a good cause, ok? We need you.” 

Hyunjin placed her hand on Yuqi's shoulder, reassuring her that they'll leave as soon as they get this crappy mission over with. When Yuqi calmed down, Heejin eventually had to lead the way while the three others were trailing behind her, Hyunjin and Jiwoo intertwined their arms with both Yuqi's. 

\------

Finally reaching to what seemed an isolate area, the usual old and rickety stuff that Daegu merely ever packs, they were now at the furthest west side of the dead city. Heejin carefully scanned the area they were in, gazing at the towering fence in front of her. Yuqi rummaged through her pocket to find her phone, taking it out to examine their distance from the satellite. 

“According to my calculations…we're about 3 miles from the satellite.” 

“Awesome, it's not too far. Looks like we have to climb this.” Hyunjin subtly boasted about her years in rock climbing.

“_ Or _ we could just crawl through this hole that’s already conveniently dug up and leading into Daegu.” 

“What the-”

“Not so much of a professional detective, are ya, Kim?” Heejin smirked before sliding into the dirt hole, followed by Yuqi and Jiwoo, then finally, Hyunjin herself, who begrudgingly crawled through as well. 

At last, they were _ finally _ in Daegu. Yuqi wasn't sure how she'd spend her first time sending foot on the soil of this hell hole, but it was obviously going to be a traumatic experience. This satellite better all of this terror the team was about to suffer. They began embarking on a cautious walk through the deserted city. Every little noises and disturbances startled them, capturing their attention in a split second. The two prodigy detectives had their weapons ready and wouldn't hesitate to use them at any given time. Jiwoo and Yuqi closely stayed by each other's side, with mostly the tech geek clinging securely on Jiwoo's arm, not daring to let go.

“We have a mile left, so we're getting close. C-could we maybe walk a bit faster?” Yuqi desperately requested. 

A mile was probably the best thing they've heard all day. The group then speed walked to see their destination faster, but once they arrived, they frantically hid behind rusty barrels. They nearly forgot the creature was there.

“Fuck! It's still there.” Hyunjin whispered the curse.

“What the hell is a monster like that doing in Daegu anyway?” Jiwoo asked curiously.

“It's Daegu. _ Everything _ is wrong with it. I'm not too surprised.” Heejin answered, cowering behind the barrel while frowning in the distance, trying to get a glimpse of the creature far away from them.

“We have to go around. There's no use trying to go through the front door if that motherfucker is in the way.” The younger of the prodigy detectives cussed again.

“Then let's make a quick distraction so we don't have to go through more trouble for a measly satellite.” Yuqi held up a rock, but knowing she's not a good thrower, she passed it onto her friends, to see if they wanted to volunteer or not. “Guys come on, you know I've always been horrible at baseball~” She whined and held out the rock, only for her to chuckle at her before Heejin offered.

“I'll…I'll do it.” 

She grabbed the rock from Yuqi's hand after the older girl gave her a good luck. She clutched onto the rock, contemplating how she should make a distraction since the monster was quite a distant apart from them. Heejin appeared from her hiding spot, looking at the monster one last time before closing her eyes, squeezing them shut as thoughts played in her head. This was all for a good cause. 

_ For Hyejoo. _

Throwing with all her strength, the rock was propelled. 

_ The biggest mistake Heejin has ever made in her life. _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

Horrified and startled, just like everyone else, Hyunjin sent a threatening glare at her rival.

“Are you fucking kidding me??? You goddamn amateur!” She halted whispered, half yelled.

“I'm sorry!!” Heejin frantically apologized as jumped up and down in a whiny manner.

Just when Heejin was about to start crying about her mistake, Yuqi hectically alerted the team of their new problem.

“Guys guys it's coming this way!!” 

“Fuck! Quick, HIDE!”

With that, the hastily team scattered. Hyunjin hid behind a large, busted closet in the corner, Heejin took over inside a metal crate with Jiwoo, and lastly, Yuqi ducked under an broken down car, tucking her backpack full of gadgets in front of her while clutching onto it like her life was nearing its end.

They all waited in a ghostly silence. It was too quiet. Hyunjin looked from behind the closet, readying the pocketknife that she stole from Vivi. Her eyes widened at the horrid sight of the thing before her. It’s eye were dark, bloody and eerily hollow, its lanky arms and sharp claws looked like it could slice steel, and its height was unbelievable, even at sight. She couldn't look at it anymore so she hid behind the closet again, gripping the pocketknife tightly as she began to sweat out of fear. 

The creature continued to investigate, searching to find the culprit who threw the rock at it. It first set its eyes on the large metal crate on the side, hitting, rocking, and trying to get the box open. Heejin was practically shrilling inside but it was muffled since Jiwoo was covering her mouth while using her free hand to keep the inside firmly shut so the monster can open it. The strength Jiwoo had to use was unbearably painful compared to the monster's power.

Yuqi and Hyunjin had to do something. The older girl set her eyes on the young detective who was looking back at her. Yuqi had the desperate questioning look, as if asking Hyunjin what they should do to quickly help their friends. Skimming around for another distraction, Hyunjin had to be fast, otherwise their mission will be cut short. After a few more searching, her eyes locked onto an empty soda can and smirked as she grabbed onto it. She signaled to Yuqi about her finding, showing off the can that's she was going to use for distraction. Yuqi gasped happily, shooting the young detective with two thumbs up.

Then suddenly, at that second, Yuqi's phone suddenly went off with a loud ringtone. Her mom was calling her. 

_ MOM, WHY?!?! _

Yuqi was too stunned to turn off her phone, laying there with her mouth hanging in absolute shock and disbelief. Hyunjin, on the other hand, was absolutely pissed to the core. Why was everything getting in her way of completing this mission and getting the fuck out of Daegu? She was so ready to throw the can at the opposite direction to get this damn monster away from them.

They all snapped to their senses when the monster suddenly let a roar, causing Heejin and Yuqi to scream. As this was happening, Hyunjin swiftly got out of her hiding spot, signaling all of her friends to run to the building. Yuqi frantically crawl from under the busted car while Heejin and Jiwoo hopped out of the crate. After the monster finished roaring, it chased after the team. Surprisingly, it wasn't fast so the four of them were able to outrun it and quickly run to the entrance. However, it wasn't budging and they didn't have much time.

“Shit!! We have to find a window!”

Instantly, they rounded the building after Hyunjin suggested that, eyes immediately spotting a paneless window. Scared was an understatement of what Yuqi felt when Heejin speedily hoisted herself onto the window ledge and lowered herself into the building with only a little ‘thump’. Hyunjin went next. Then Jiwoo. Before Yuqi could think much more, she felt her friends hastily grab her arms hoist her inside. She let out a sigh which made Heejin glare at her fiercely. As steadily as Yuqi could with her shaky hands, she took a small hidden camera out of her pocket and set it on the corner of the room. It would be beneficial to their station mates if they never made it out.

Panting and heavy breathing plagued the room they were in. It was dusty, pitch black, and shaky. Yuqi turned off her ringtone and turned on the flashlight on her phone.

“Jesus fucking christ…”

“You could say that again, Kim.”

“_ You _ almost got us killed, Jeon!”

“Hey! No one, not even you, stepped in to throw the rock.” 

“Guys please! Not now. I know we almost got killed twice, but we have to finish soon.” Yuqi interrupted their argument, drawing everyone's attention to her. “Here, I brought flashlights.” She handed one to all of her teammates before walking outside to set up more hidden cameras outside in the hall while clinging onto Jiwoo.

After Yuqi setting at least 2 hidden cameras in the current hall she was in, she looked to her left at the larger area the end of the hall. With Jiwoo, she cautiously approached it, gripping the flashlight tightly with her hand. They both kneeled on one knee to take a small glance at. Yuqi peeked left and then right before sneaking back to place her third and final hidden camera just beside the tip of wall.

“What are you doing?” Jiwoo asked her peer curiously. 

“I'm gonna set this up incase we see anything else suspicious. Plus, it’s an efficient way to report back to the station.” 

“Oooh that's cool.”

“Wait! That gives me an idea!”

“What?” 

“I should use the night vision goggles with cameras that I implanted, so that the station can see from my perspective.” 

“Would that work?” 

“Well, wouldn't to try. Here!” 

Jiwoo took the goggles from Yuqi's hands and placed it around her head before adjusting it a bit and securing the buckle at the back of her head. 

“How do I look?” Jiwoo flashed a bright smile, causing Yuqi to giggle a little.

“Looks cute on you. Let's give one to Heejin and Hyunjin as well.”

_ _

Walking back to the room, Heejin was looking out the window to see if the monster followed them while Hyunjin was gazing around the room.

“Damn…this place must've been blown up. My shoes are getting ash marks.”

“Wrong! I conclude this very room was mugged and left to rot. There's barely anything in here.”

“Bullshit. Can't you smell the charcoal??” 

Yuqi and Jiwoo rolled their eyes, knowing the two detectives made another crappy competition to see who could guess correctly what happened to the room they were currently in.

“Is there ever a day you two DON'T argue?” Yuqi sarcastically blurted as Jiwoo giggled. “Anyways, put these on your heads.” The two detectives took the head straps.

“Uuuu night vision goggles.” Heejin being excited to use them for the first time. Then she recognized cameras implanted in them. “What are the cameras for?” She inquired while poking at the lens before setting it on record like how Yuqi had taught her.

“To film for anything suspicious in here.” 

“Alright.” Hyunjin shrugged and went along with it, also turning hers. “How do you record?”

“Flip the switch on the back.” 

“Oh. Got it.” Hyunjin did as told while Jiwoo did the same for hers.

Soon after, Yuqi’s softly vibrated in her pocket, notifying her that the third hidden camera had already spotted something strange. Everyone gathered around her to see what her camera has found. But to their horror, the creature was back and Yuqi was a trembling mess once again.

_ _

“I-i-i-it's h-here-” 

“Crap! Ok, now we have to whisper. Is it near?” Hyunjin questioned Yuqi, earning a vigorous nod from the tech geek.

“I have my shit ready. What about you, Kim?” 

“Of course I do, don't question me.” 

“Tch. Whatever. We have to get out of here somehow. Can't stay forever.” 

“W-who's gonna open the door?” Jiwoo stuttered, visibly shaken at how close proximity the creature was from them. 

“Definitely not this bastard right here.” Hyunjin pointed at Heejin who scoffed back at. “I'll open the door.”

“O-ok but be careful. We should stay close.” 

Although hesitant, Hyunjin was more than determined to get the hell out of here once they find the satellite and extract its data. She carefully turned the knob, opening the door slightly. Everyone peeked through, not seeing anything suspicious so far. Hyunjin pushed on the door so her team could walk out. They took ginger steps, trying to prevent themselves from being too loud. Hyunjin and Yuqi clung onto each other while Heejin and Jiwoo did the same.

As they neared the third camera, Yuqi and Hyunjin peeked to their left, only to be greeted by the very sight of monster’s right in front of them. If Hyunjin didn't cover the tech geek's mouth before she screamed, they would’ve been done for. 

Until Jiwoo let out a sneeze.

Before anyone could pass out from fear, Hyunjin yelled at the top of her lungs.

“SCATTER!!!!” 

Within a split second, all four of them screamed as they ran away. The monster let another roar before deciding to chase Yuqi. Everyone was now in a game of tag and unfortunately, the hunter chose the wimpiest member in their team. Yuqi ran while shrieking, hurriedly dashing up the stairs as she tried to outrun the thing chasing after her.

Everyone else was screaming while mindlessly running around. The monster decided to chase someone else but because they were all over the place, the monster couldn't focus on one person. Heejin, Hyunjin, Yuqi, and Jiwoo constantly ran back and forth, up and down, believing the monster was right behind them. 

They slammed doors after doors, sprinted up stairs, kicked things out of their way, etc. At the peak of their hysteric chase, Heejin, Hyunjin, and Yuqi all collided into each other at three direction, ending up in a small area.

The three landed fell back as a result of the impact from their collision, groaning in agony. As they began to recollect their thoughts, they sighed in relief and hugged each other, being grateful to see other. 

“Come on, we have to reach the roof and get to the satellite.” 

Without another thought, Heejin and Yuqi nodded their heads as they jogged up the last flight of stairs. However, Heejin began wheezing from all the ache of running so they had to stop and let her rest. After a few more seconds, Hyunjin began the next flight of stairs. Both Yuqi and Heejin followed, but the detective was taking one step at a time while Hyunjin and the tech geek took two. Tired of the other detective’s slow pace, Hyunjin lowered herself to her level and threw her over her shoulder before making her way back up again. Heejin let out a squeak which caused Hyunjin to shush her and add to the amount of steps she was taking per second. Yuqi, extremely surprised by this action, immediately smirked as she followed behind them. Heejin, who had her arms crossed with an unimpressed look on her face, glared at Yuqi who was still smirking. The younger girl wondered why the tech geek kept smirking so she shot her a questioning look, then Yuqi tapped on her goggles, reminding Heejin that she was on film. Utterly shocked, she tried to reach out and grab Yuqi’s goggles but that distracted Hyunjin, who was still carrying the other detective, scolded her. 

“Hey! Stop squirming or you're gonna get hurt.” 

Heejin’s heart was beating fast, but that was because of the previous run, right? Right, she convinced herself. As if annoying Kim Hyunjin could make anyone’s heart beat faster. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the feeling of the breeze.

“_ Finally _. We’re here.” Hyunjin announced, not even a little breathless as she set Heejin down before taking off her night vision goggles and switching off the camera recording.

Before doing the same as Hyunjin as well, Heejin looked around slowly, taking in the view of most of the rooftops in that area in sight before spotting the satellite in the corner.

“There it is!” She pointed excitedly, with Yuqi just as giddy as she is.

“Yay! Do you have the USB?” 

“Right here.” Heejin smiled after fishing the small hard drive from her pocket.

They jogged over and plugged the flash drive in after a bit of searching for the usb port. The light at the end of the stick turned green and they sighed in relief.

“You can make this extraction faster, right Yuqi?”

“Yeah, I just have to connect my laptop to the USB and alter the system so it can finish in no time.” 

“Ok, ok great. We made it, oh my god.” Heejin placed her hand on her chest to calm her heart beat a little as Yuqi happily got to work after taking her laptop from gadget loaded backpack.

She turned off the recording switch on her goggles and removed it from her face. As she was about to do her thing, she noticed lamp posts at street level from where she was on the rooftop. Since when were there lamps? The lights were near the entrance of the building, so she could clearly see the bottom. Then at that moment, she wasn't sure whether she saw that correctly or not, but…

Just then, after a few minutes, Heejin realized her rival had not followed her and Yuqi to the corner and was standing by the edge of the roof, pocket knife in hand as she was staring…off the side of the building? Heejin reached into her pocket and wrapped her fingers tightly around the taser before joining Hyunjin at her side. Yuqi was about to tell her friends what she saw, only to see them with their weapons.

“U-uh guys, what's wrong-”

“Quiet. Something's coming up the side.” Hyunjin softly spoke, but it was somehow loud enough for Yuqi to hear. 

While the tech geek began cowering away again, the two detectives cautiously took a few steps forward. They then realized a horrible creaking sound, as if someone’s weight was being put on old metal, and the sound was getting louder. Heejin readied her taser.

  
Creak...

  
  
Creak...

  
  
_ ...cr...eak _

A head popped up from the side of the building and she fumbled with the taser, closing her eyes and bracing herself before she heard a wonderfully familiar voice.

“It’s just me, Jiwoo!” She had whispered hastily, climbing onto the roof. 

Heejin had dropped her taser and sighed heavily in relief. Hyunjin laughed silently, only for it to be cut short when Jiwoo lightly tossed a large plastic bag of Burger King at them.

“What the?? Jiwoo, where did you get that?” Hyunjin asked, bewildered as the other two.

“Well…”

  
  


** _~A few moments ago~_ **

  
Jiwoo had absolutely no clue where she was running but all she felt was that her goggles became loose so she was now holding onto it as she dashing to nowhere. Before she could realize she was now in the outskirts of Daegu when she ran into a pole. She laid there on the ground, physically and emotionally in pain. Jiwoo stayed for about 5 minutes before deciding to sit up and take a look around. 

“Suseong-Gu?? I ran this far…?” 

She quickly stood up on her feet and walked around the vibrant and lively city. The most delighted relief she's felt tonight, with all the cars passing by, actual, normal people walking on the side walks, and stores and shops across from Jiwoo. She looked behind her and realized she'd just ran from the dark forest between Suseong-Gu and Daegu. Jiwoo then looked around, taking in the beautiful sight of the city, the relief not leaving her. Just then, her eyes locked onto to the Burger King in the distance from her. She smiled and laughed gleefully before skipping over to the crosswalk and strolled to the fast food restaurant. 

Her wallet was empty by the time she exited Burger King.

\----

“Aaaand that's how I got these!” Jiwoo gestured to the bag of burgers in her hand as all three of them stared at the innocent girl in utter disbelief. 

“So you were just…purchasing burgers this whole time?” Heejin deadpanned as Jiwoo slapped a burger onto her hand. 

“Yeah! Isn't it convenient?” 

“Well, I'm starving anyways. Thanks Jiwoo!” Hyunjin accepted the burger from her friend. 

Another one was given to Yuqi before they all sat and ate while waiting for the USB to finish extracting information. The laptop displayed that they have about 10 more minutes left, feeling blessed with having Yuqi with them so they don't have to stay long. By the time they finished eating, the laptop signaled that USB has completed the extraction. Yuqi unplugged the hard drive before stuffing her laptop into her backpack. She handed the USB to Heejin before speaking up. 

“Uh. Hey guys.” Yuqi had a mouthful of food in her mouth so her words were muffled. “How are we gonna get down from here? The monster is probably still there.” 

“Aw shit, you're right.” Hyunjin cussed once again.

“Wait! The ladder I climbed up on. We can use that.” 

“Oh perfect. Let's go.” 

They all made their way to the ladder after wrapping their half eaten burgers and packing them in the plastic bag. Hyunjin decided to volunteer to go down the ladder first because she wanted to “be the more courageous officer”, of course earning an eye roll from Heejin. Just as Hyunjin went down one step on the ladder, it unexpectedly became loose with her weight on it. As the ladder was about to completely plunge to the ground with Hyunjin, Heejin instinctively grabbed ahold of her rival's wrist, saving the other detective from her impending death.

“Holy shit!” Hyunjin gazed below, watching the ladder get demolished even more when it struck the ground. “Thank you.” She looked up at Heejin, who's shocked expression shared hers and their two other friends.

“Oh my god! Hyunjin are you ok?!” Yuqi ran over to her group, utterly horrified at what had just happened. 

“I'm fine, I'm fine. I almost died. Again.”

“There's no other escape routes.” Jiwoo said as she frowned at the realization.

“Oh no. Now we're stuck here??” Yuqi was becoming scared again.

“No no Yuqi, guys calm down a bit. Um……” Heejin examined their surroundings to search for a solution to get out of here.

That was when they heard a blaring pound on the door along with the familiar terrifying roar coming from behind it as well. The monster had found them.

“It's the monster!!” 

“Shit!” Hyunjin immediately whipped out her pocket knife. 

“Wait! We can jump from across that building over there! It doesn't seem too far.” Heejin point towards the direction. 

“Alright we don't have much time, let's go!!” Hyunjin shouted as she pushed both Jiwoo and Yuqi, who were now trailing behind Heejin as she hopped over to the first roof.

Hyunjin was trailing behind her team, constantly checking at the door that was getting dismantled by the creature's slamming. She hopped over along with them but they had already jumped over to another roof. 

“Hyunjin! Come on!!” Yuqi called in the distance, tears were forming in her eyes, seeing that her friend was too far for her liking, while Heejin and Jiwoo also looked back as they were about to jump to another roof. 

“Just hurry! I'll hold it back! Go now!!” 

Jiwoo grabbed onto Yuqi's hand to guide her away. Heejin ran back with her pistol in hand this time. Then suddenly, the door was finally demolished and the monster got through. Hyunjin flung her knife towards direction, only afflicting its shoulder. The monster roared and pulled the knife out, running towards Hyunjin with it. Just before it could get to her, Heejin would not let it and fired two bullets to its head before grabbing her partner's wrist and booked for the roofs. At this point, they would do anything to escape the creature now.

“Keep running you two!!” Hyunjin gestured to Yuqi and Jiwoo who were still standing in their positions after witnessing her near death experience yet again.

Without another word, they hopped to their third roof, followed by the two detectives. They heard the monster's roar again, which warned them that they were now being chased. At their fourth roof, Yuqi and Jiwoo came to a sudden halt at the edge since there were no more roofs to hop to.

“What are we gonna do now?!?” Yuqi was now crying and Jiwoo hugged her for emotional support.

“Down there!” Heejin pointed.

To their incredible luck, there was a giant pile of hay at the very bottom from where they were from and Heejin was contemplating whether or not they could jump down there and not die from impact. But the mass looked quite thick and tall.

_ Maybe we could make this. _ Heejin thought to herself as everyone looked down at the hay pile.

“Oh man…we're gonna jump down there?” Hyunjin, who was known for being awfully afraid of heights, gulped at the sight.

“I-I don't think we have much choice…” Jiwoo was also scared of the elevation they were standing from, but if she was going to jump down from this building to stay alive, she wasn't going to hesitate. 

“Jiwoo's right. We have to jump, Kim.” 

“W-wha……ok. Let's go.”

The monster roared again but it closing onto them really fast. Jiwoo removed herself from the embrace with Yuqi, smiling warmly to her, hoping it'd comfort her before they made their jump. After a few seconds, the tech geek nodded to her friend, telling her she was ready while her eyes were getting puffy from all the crying. Both Yuqi and Jiwoo faced forward and closed their eyes before hurdling themselves from the building, screaming their whole way down. Heejin gasped, quickly glancing down to check and see if they were alright. To her relief, they were waving back at her from the bottom, telling her to hurry and jump down. Hyunjin was busy using Heejin's pistol to fend off the creature that was already a roof away from them. 

“Kim, we have to jump NOW!” 

“Hold on! I'll be there in a bit!!” Loudly groaning, Heejin clutched onto Hyunjin's coat, dragging to the edge of the roof before intertwining their arms.

“Are you ready yet??” 

“U-uh-”

“One!”

“Wait-”

“Two!!”

“I'm not-”

“THREE!!!”

Heejin quickly leaned forward, pulling Hyunjin along with her. Just as they both began tipping over the roof, the monster was approximately an inch away from grabbing them. As they were plunging towards the hay, they both shrieked at the top of their lungs before thumping onto the hay. Yuqi and Jiwoo quickly helped them both up, chuckling at how stiff they were after the jump. They all hugged each other after that crazy chase, extremely relief to have survived this unnecessarily burdensome mission. 

At the top of the roof, the monster let out another cry, but this time, it was much louder. It sounded extremely angry and bitter about losing its preys. With that, the team all looked at each other, sharing a frightened look before Hyunjin shouted. 

“To the car!!” 

They all surprisingly still had the energy to run all way to the gates and out Daegu to Hyunjin’s car. They all hysterically opened the car doors and slammed them shut before Hyunjin quickly turned on the ignition and stepped on the petal to speed the fuck out of there. Yuqi looked behind them to see if the monster was after them. But thank god, they'd just lost it. Heejin was panting like crazy and glanced towards Hyunjin who looked back at her, equally exhausted and terrified. 

They just finished their first mission in Daegu at night together.


	3. Psychological Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have fun reading!

Haseul, Sooyoung, Vivi, Yeojin and Chaewon were eagerly waiting outside for their friends to return from their dangerous mission in Daegu. They had no idea what the group was going through, but based on their tweets, they were certainly close to death on several occasions. That night was freezing cold, even with Vivi at Haseul’s side as her personal heater, the others weren’t so fortunate so as Haseul was about to suggest they walk back into the station, Hyunjin's car abruptly pulled over near the entrance. Yuqi, who was still shivering from fear, trembled as she opened the car door before dropping her backpack and running to Haseul's embrace. The captain enveloped Yuqi, rubbing her back to reassure the tech geek that everything she'll be fine while Jiwoo hugged the tech geek from behind. Heejin slowly opened her door and closed it behind her before falling to her knees, just sitting there thinking about what she had just went through for mere satellite info. Hyunjin got out and leaned on the hood of the car, depleted of all energy. Just as she was about to walk over to meet up with her new station members, a familiar voice called her name. 

“Kim Hyunjin!” 

“Nakyung? Guys?? What are you doing here?” 

Hyunjin's former station members all approached her, worried looks plastered their faces. Although concerned, Saerom chuckled at her old colleague being teased by her station members, which brought back old memories of when Hyunjin had first started working with her and always goofed off with either Chaeyoung or Nakyung. It was unfortunate Hyunjin's had to transfer so soon. 

“We thought we should visit you for a bit to see what the hell was going on.”

“You had one hell of a ride, huh Hyun?” Seoyeon patted the detective's shoulder.

“Ugh I don't want to bring it up. You won't even believe what I went through.” 

“Well based on your tweets, you were uh…being chased by a monster??” Chaeyoung looked through Hyunjin's odd posts on Twitter before averting her attention to her peer.

“It's dumb, I know. But wait until you see Yuqi's footages, then you'll believe me.” 

“Oh so you did catch the whole thing on film.”

“Yeah.”

“That's good cause I brought popcorn.” Chaeyoung chuckled at Hyunjin while the young detective scoffed at her friend. 

Hyunjin couldn't help but wonder if she could transfer back to her old station once (if) she finds out what happened to Hyejoo. She had a feeling this case was going to last for quite a while, but she missed her old team already. 

By the time they all entered Haseul's station and got situated in their respective areas, Heejin barely managed to hand the USB to Yeojin before settling herself on a chair near Yeojin and Chaewon’s desk, plopping her head onto her crossed arms and briefly closing her eyes to ease her weariness. 

Hyunjin's friends crowded around her desk, teasing the young prodigy for keeping all her baby photos and the group photo of when they were just rookies still training to become detectives, police officers, private investigators, etc, with Saerom being their only senior at that time. 

While Yeojin and Chaewon were working on looking through codes and hacking into Daegu's satellite data, Heejin looked around the station for the coffee machine because she really needed it right now. As she scanned the station, Yuqi and Jiwoo were fast asleep on large benches in the corner, Saerom and Haseul were socializing, and the rest of her associates going on about in the station, although some were also beginning to feel as sleepy as she was. When she finally discovered the coffee machine, she willfully forced herself off her chair and slightly limped to the counter to grab some coffee as her eyes were still closed.

While the two young hackers furiously typing on their computers and looking through files after files, Saerom was rather nervous in front of Haseul.

“Uuh, so Haseul. How have you been lately?”

“Very tired. I've lost count of how many times I've had to keep track of everyone's safety.”

“Aw, I'm sorry you have to go through that. I know this question is kind of obvious, but has Hyunjin caused you any trouble yet?”

“Oooh yes. She's been back and forth like Tom and Jerry with Heejin. Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough for their sakes since they always find some reason to be at each other's necks all the time.” 

“Ugh, I've been there too many times. She's a real rascal but she knows how to do her job.” 

“Yeah. I’m worried for both her and Heejin. I don't know what I'd do if they get themselves into more trouble than they already are.” 

“If you ever need my help, you can always ask me, Seulie.” Saerom smiled warmly at Haseul and placed her hand on hers.

Haseul had an odd comfortable feeling inside her just being around the other captain. She especially liked the way Saerom's soft voice said her nickname. Just as she was about to add on, Vivi suddenly interrupted their moment. 

“Haseul! You have to come see this.” 

“Oh. Alright, give me a sec, I'll be there.” 

As Vivi made her way back to Sooyoung's desk, Haseul averted her attention back to Saerom. She sighed before grasping onto the other captain's hand, enjoying the modest warmth.

“I have to go now…” 

“Yeah uh, I should go too. My team and I have to go back to our station anyways.” 

“Maybe I'll see you soon?”

“O-of course!” Saerom flashed an awkward smile, hoping her blushing wasn't too obvious. 

Haseul lightly giggled before slowly letting go of Saerom's hand and strolling over to Vivi and Sooyoung. When she got there, she leaned forward to get a closer look at the screen, furrowing her brows. They pulled up some footages of Hyunjin and Heejin's mission in Daegu from Yuqi's night goggles. They had tried waking the snoring tech geek up but it was no use. 

“Take a look at this.” 

“What the hell…” 

The trio couldn't believe what they were seeing. They realized how serious Heejin's team was when they informed the station about a monster. They were currently viewing footages from Yuqi's perspective on Sooyoung's computer, seeing the creature chasing the poor girl as she was running for her life and screaming. Just the sight of the monster sent chills down their spine. 

“I didn't think Daegu could get any worse than this. We have to prevent that thing from getting in our way again.” Haseul stated while frowning at the screen.

“How are we gonna track it without getting killed? I don't wanna send Hyunjin and Heejin out there again, especially with that still roaming around.” Sooyoung pointed out, clearly frightened by the monster.

“We should probably wait for Yeojin and Chaewon to finish extracting data from the USB and find answers before we can do anything else.” Vivi rationalized with the other two captains.

“Will do.”

Just then, Yeojin and Chaewon started rejoicing with screams and jumping around. The people who were nodding off and fighting their sleep were jerked awake from the commotion.

“What happened??” 

“We didn’t find the location of the voicemail yet but we found messages about Hyejoo! And the IP address of the messages!” Yeojin cheered and high fives Chaewon.

“It doesn't tell us who are in the conversation but they're saying something about using a mascot to distract the…‘stupid police officers’? Rude.” Chaewon glared at her monitor as she read the messages. 

Hyunjin and Heejin's ears perked up at Hyejoo's name being mentioned. On instinct, they both rushed to Chaewon's computer to read the mysterious text message conversation. Unfortunately, that knocked Chaewon off her chair, sending her colliding into Yeojin and causing both of them to drop onto the ground. It also caused yet another dispute.

“Move it, Kim! I got here first!” 

“No you didn't!  _ I _ did! So get OFF!” 

Before they both could even read the messages, Saerom and Haseul appeared behind them and smacked both of the young detectives’ heads.

“OW! Seriously Haseul??” Heejin clutched her head while groaning in pain. 

“Unless you both want another smack, share the computer!” 

“Alright alright we'll share! Spare my skull, jeez.” 

Saerom chuckled at Hyunjin’s plea before stealing a small glance at Haseul.  _ God she's so cute even when she's angry _ , Saerom thought to herself. On the other hand, Haseul sighed frustratingly before catching a glimpse of Saerom staring at her. She bit down her smile that was threatening to appear before walking away to view the Yuqi's footages again. Meanwhile, Hyunjin and Heejin were rereading the text messages again. Surprisingly, there weren't any mentions or hints of names. 

“Hmm…weird. There's no names. What the hell?”

“Welp whatever their names, we're about to find out soon. Yeojin! Yeojin?” 

The said girl was still groaning in pain on the floor with Chaewon laying on her, also hurt from their collision. Hyunjin and Heejin quickly got off the chair and helped the two hackers to their feet. 

“Sorry for pushing you off your seat.”

“It's ok, Hyunjin. Just be careful next time.” Chaewon had her hand on her forehead, trying her best to concentrate on staying conscious while still slightly losing her balance, but Hyunjin held her by the shoulders. 

“What do you need?” Yeojin questioned while massaging her temples.

“The names and IP address of this text conversation.” Heejin pointed to Chaewon's computer screen.

“I can't get the names, I only have the addresses.”

“Ok then send me those.”

“About that…uh, well…”

“What?” 

“Y-you see, um…” Yeojin's hesitation was becoming suspicious, but then the two detectives immediately got the hint.   
  
“Please don’t tell me it’s in Dae—“   
  
“It’s in Daegu.”

Heejin resisted the urge to scream in her stall, clutching her hair in hopes to calm herself down a little. Sooyoung lightly knocked on her stall door.

“Heejin, I'm coming in.” 

The young detective didn't say anything back and let Sooyoung enter her stall. The captain locked the door behind her before crossing her arms, looking down at Heejin who was hugging her knees like always.

“Are you always going to be scared of Daegu?” 

“I have personal reasons you know?” 

“You've been there so many times, Heejin.” 

“I know. In  _ daytime _ . Didn't you see Yuqi's footages?”

“Sure did. And I was pretty damn scared. But I'm not letting that stop me. That goes for you, too.” 

“Look. I know I may have boasted a lot about solving lots of cases in Daegu but trust me when I said I hated it.” 

“Well duh, you say that all the time. But you never once backed out, did you?” 

“No, but-”

“So, you can do this. Be that brave detective you've always wanted to be. You worked hard to get this job, Heejin.”

“I guess…there's just something about Daegu that gives me the chills, besides the monster we ran into.” 

“Then it's up to you to seek out your suspicions. Hyunjin is waiting for you outside.” 

“Is it just us two this time?” 

“Yeah. Unless you have someone else who can tag along.” 

“Hmmm…I might know a genius.”

After giving a call and persuading a close friend of hers to join her on another investigation in Daegu, Heejin exited the bathroom to meet up with Hyunjin so she can go pick up her friend. But by the time she reached their spot, Hyunjin was still straddling Saerom like a koala as her old teammates tried to pry her off of their captain.

“Hyunjin, seriously, let me go!” 

“I don't wanna go to Daegu again, PLEASE!” 

“God, for christ sake, Hyun. Stop being a pussy!” Nakyung yelled at her former colleague as she finally freed Saerom from Hyunjin's grasp. Haseul and Vivi had to hold the young detective back from latching onto Saerom again. The other captain's team was finally able to leave. 

“We'll visit again someday!” Saerom waved goodbye to Haseul who returned the gesture. 

Once they finally left the station, Hyunjin couldn't help but miss them again. She sadly sighed, watching their car peel out of the parking lot. Chaeyoung and Seoyeon looked behind them through the back window of Saerom's car and waved their goodbyes to Hyunjin who quickly returned the gesture. Her eyes followed the car until it was out of her sight. 

“They really left me alone again, huh…” 

“Kim!” Heejin called out to Hyunjin who was just about walk back into their station. “We should get going now. Oh and, I'm going to pick up a friend first so we're using my car.” 

“Why are you having a friend come with us?” Hyunjin quirked an eyebrow. 

“She's a major in psychology.” 

“Who is she and why are we having a psychologist with us?” The younger detective questioned again, leading Heejin to roll her eyes and stop in her tracks before frowning at Hyunjin.

“We're setting out to find potential suspects of the text conversation so we're obviously going to need a psychologist with us. The more help we get, the merrier.” 

“Pft. Whatever.” 

“Oh and her name is Mia.”

As Heejin informed Mia to get ready, dawn arrived before they realized. Although sleepy, the two young detectives began suiting up for another mission in Daegu. Heejin kept her taser and pistol, which she reloaded. Hyunjin finally got her hands on her own pistol as well and placed it the gun holster that was tied around her hip.

“I'm ready. What about you, Kim?” 

“Yeah yeah whatever. Let's go already.” 

“Tch. Brat.” Heejin muttered, clearly annoyed of Hyunjin's impatience before calling out to Chaewon. “Can you send me IP addresses to my phone?” 

“Sure! Sending right now.” 

Once the addresses were sent, they were almost ready to embark on their next mission. Key word: almost. Vivi couldn’t believe her eyes. The first thing she sees when she looked up from her paperwork was Heejin taking out the whole pot of coffee in the machine and bringing it with her as she walked out the doors of the stations. 

“Well I guess it’s good to strike while the iron’s hot…but it’s 5am and they’ve been working all night, so.” Haseul noted

“Wait a minute. Hyunjin, stop!” Vivi quickly halted the two leaving detectives, who quickly ceased their walking. “What's that in your pocket?” The pink haired officer pointed out, noticing something familiar and colorfully shiny in Hyunjin's pocket.

“U-uh, it's umー" 

“Why do you have it?” Vivi narrowed her eyes at the stuttering detective who tried to brainstorm a good excuse on the spot. 

“W-well you see-” 

“Please hand it over.” 

“Ok.” 

Hyunjin quickly shuffled the pocketknife from her jacket and hastily returned the stolen property back to its rightful owner.

“When did you even get this? Did you grab it from my desk?” Vivi chuckled before pocketing the knife.

“Yeah…I'm sorry, I should've asked if I could use it for the Daegu mission last night.” 

“It's all good. No scrapes so you're forgiven.” 

“What's so special about it?” Heejin chimed in. 

“Oh it's from a close friend.” 

“Really? From who?” Haseul asked curiously. 

“Someone from Hong Kong. A family member.” 

“Oh, cool. Well alright, we should definitely be on our way now, Kim. Don't wanna keep my friend waiting too long.” 

Heejin quickly informed her partner before exiting out the station with the coffee machine in her arms. Resentfully, Hyunjin followed Heejin out the door and made her way to the other detective's car. When Hyunjin opened the door to shotgun, the entire coffee pot was already there while the machine was in the trunk.

“Why did you even bring the machine along if you're just gonna leave the pot here?”

“Because I paid for the coffee machine with my own money. Unlike you, I was being generous to my members, but for now, I'm gonna need it.” Heejin smiled at her confused partner who stood still holding the door open. “Well what are you waiting for? Get in!” 

“Ugh…” Hyunjin sighed before taking a seat and holding the coffee pot on her lap and buckling her seat belt. 

  
“Drink only half.” Heejin pointed out in a threatening manner. Hyunjin scoffed before holding it securely in her lap.    
  
“Jiwoo and Yuqi aren't coming with us?” Hyunjin asked.   
  
“Didn't you see? They're both asleep like they’re dead. Besides, we're not going to some abandoned building for our mission this time and I don't wanna put them through more trauma.” Heejin responded, starting up the engine. “Now, hold onto that coffee tight, Kim.”    
  
“What?” Hyunjin looked over to her partner with a confused look on her face, having no clue for what was about to come.

When they finally reached Heejin's friend's apartment complex, Hyunjin was shaking, while hugging the coffee pot, in her seat and glared menacingly at her rival. She was now quite sure Heejin was a psychopath. The older detective rolled her eyes before chuckling at her jittery partner. 

She suffered more as her devil of a partner abruptly turned the wheel (causing the car to spiral in a 270° rotation), and sped through an isolated shortcut so she wouldn't have to worry about violating speed limits, and finally, almost crashing into a deserted store, to which Heejin did another spiral to avoid.

“Sorry about that. I was having a bit of fun.” Heejin smirked while fishing out her phone from her pocket.

“You almost got us fucking  _ killed _ , you damn LUNATIC!!”

“Trust me when I say this, but if we ever get into a car crash, it won't be my fault.” She winked at Hyunjin, who grimaced in response. Heejin dialed her friend's number on her phone and then waited till she picked up. After two rings, the friend answered.

_ “I'm on my way down.” _

“Cool. I have my partner here with me so be sure to say hi.” 

_ “Great…” _

Mia didn't sound so enthusiastic to be apart of this mission with them, which Hyunjin understood as it was going to take place in Daegu. While waiting, the younger detective took a sip from the coffee pot, in hopes it’d calm her down a bit. Heejin decided to play a game on her phone to keep herself busy till her friend arrived to the car. Just then, they both heard a voice calling Heejin's name. The two detectives looked out the windshield, seeing a girl with greyish, purple hair, a black hoodie, jeans with some holes, and red converse shoes. And a bonus, her eyes were rather enchanting. She had her one hand in her jean pocket, which made the girl look even hotter. Hyunjin didn't think Mia was this beautiful.

“Whoa…” She unintentionally let out, earning a laugh from Heejin. “What a girl crush…”

“Try not to get any drool in my car, you pervert.” As the friend approached Heejin's car, the detective waved a simple. “Hi Mia~!” 

“Hi…” Mia did a small wave, obviously very reluctant in going on this mission. 

“We're on our way to Daegu.” 

“Yeah, you called. Didn't you just come back from there last night??” 

“I did. With my partner right here.” Heejin pointed to Hyunjin for Mia to see.

“Oh! You must be Kim Hyunjin, one of the best prodigies in the police force! Oh my god, it's an honor to meet you.” She said, suddenly all giddy at Hyunjin's presence as she's read a lot about her solving numerous criminal cases. 

“Aw it's no big deal, but thanks for noticing me.” Hyunjin smiled, indirectly boasting about her accomplishments as a detective. 

Heejin was, however, absolutely cringing at this interaction. Before she could gag anymore, she quickly told Mia to get in the backseat, who hesitantly complied. After situating herself in the middle back seat and buckling her seatbelt, Mia began her questioning.

“So what's the objective of this ‘mission’? I've heard about Hyejoo's case being reopened but that's it.” 

“When we finished our…unusual event in Daegu last night, we had to use a hard drive to extract satellite information for Yeojin and Chaewon to hack.” 

“Into what?” 

“Into the its system so we could find where Hyejoo's voicemail was last recorded and the only designation Yeojin couldn't track was Daegu, which is why we had to go there.”

“I have a loooot of questions…” 

“Don't worry, we'll fill you in as I drive.”

“Oh no you're not!” Hyunjin frantically unbuckled her seatbelt, opened her door and speed walked over to Heejin’s side.

“Hey what're you- HEYー"

Mia sat there with wide eyes, confused and shocked after witnessing Heejin being dragged out from her driver's seat and Hyunjin instantly replacing her. The other detective glared at her rival before begrudgingly walking over to the passenger seat. Heejin buckled her seat belt and placed the coffee pot on her lap, still glaring at Hyunjin grabbing onto the steering wheel of _her_ _own car_. The psychology major sitting in the back seat observed the two detectives, looking left and right, still feeling awkward about the situation. Mia was starting to piece Yeojin's warning with what she’d just witnessed.

“Um…did something happen while I was getting ready?”

“You don't wanna know.” 

With that, Mia decided to keep silent about the matter and went through her phone to do a quick search about Hyejoo's disappearance as the two detectives filled her in about their findings. They told her about encountering the monster (which she had a really hard time believing), hiding and running away from it, Heejin throwing the rock at its head, Yuqi using her techy knowledge, Jiwoo with her hamburgers, and them jumping from roof to roof before plunging down onto piles of hays. The whole story sounded quite adventurous and Mia, although baffled, listened to every detail intently. 

“Seems like you all were in a roller coaster.” 

“A horrible one too.” The younger detective chimed in.

“Whatever this ‘monster’ is, I doubt it's actually real. Because come on, there's no way.” 

“You should've heard its cry, Mia. I literally saw my life flash before my eyes.” 

“Relax, Heejin. Hopefully once we're in Daegu, we'll get to the bottom of this.” 

“And might as well be quick while it's still day time.” Hyunjin muttered before pushing on the pedal to speed up the car and get there faster.

“I know we're going to Daegu and all but where exactly are we starting once we get there?” 

“The addresses Chaewon sent me are in the outskirts of Daegu, which is much safer.” Both Heejin and Mia sighed in relief. 

They finally arrived at their destination and all hopped out of Heejin's car. The coffee pot was now completely as it was shared amongst the distressed trio throughout the rest of the ride. They observed their surroundings carefully, clearly nervous being in Daegu. Mia always stayed far away from this hell hole and was beginning to regret setting foot on Daegu for the first time. Even if she was safer in the outskirts, she still didn't trust the atmosphere. Something just felt fishy about it. And before they knew it, there was no WiFi.

“Aw dammit! Now I can't use Google Maps to find the addresses.” Heejin stared at her phone in utter disbelief. 

“WHAT? Now we have to search for the place by ourselves??” Hyunjin glared at her partner, now frustrated. 

“How was I supposed to know wifi would be nonexistent here?!”

“It's  _ Daegu _ , for christ's sake!” 

“If you had that thought the whole time, why didn't you tell me??” 

“I thought it was obvious, but I guess your dumb fuck brain didn't think so!!” 

Igniting yet another dispute, Mia stood next to them, flustered at their sudden shouting and cursing at each other. She knew Haseul and the other station members had warned her that if she was ever going to work with the two, they were bound to argue with each other. However, she wasn't expecting it to be this bad. 

“Hey, hey guysー” Mia was interrupted by Heejin shouting at Hyunjin, who shouted back.  This continued for 2 more minutes before Mia finally had enough. 

“HEY!!” 

The two detectives winced at the volume, grimacing at the painful ringing as they both simultaneously covered their ears out of instinct. Mia scowled at them, informing the duo that they were wasting time. 

“If we wanna get this done quickly and leave this dump of a city, then you both better stop arguing!” 

“…fine. Arguing with this thing makes me tired anyway.” Hyunjin snarled at Heejin who rolled her eyes. 

“So…where do we go from here?” Mia sighed and looked over to the other two. 

“There's a city over there. We could maybe ask around.” Heejin pointed out. 

“We're just gonna interrupt people's businesses and ask them random questions?” 

“Then you got a better idea, Kim??” 

“I- ugh fine.” 

“Thought so.”

The psychology major looked between the two with awkward stares before shaking her head and following them into the city. Once they got there, it was surprisingly active. The streets were busy, people were roaming around, going on about their days, stores were active, and buildings were fresh and not barren like the ones in the core of Daegu. The trio almost couldn't believe it but this was the outskirts after all. 

“Wow. It's more lively than I thought.” Hyunjin indicated while she gazed around the city. “This is gonna be a long search for such a functioning city.”

“Ugh great. More reason to regret being here. I still don't trust this feeling, it's too good to be true.” Mia slightly backed away till Heejin suddenly intertwined her arms around hers. 

“Welp, then we don't have time to lose. Let's make this quick and get out of here.” 

“Uh-” 

Before Mia could properly respond she's already dragged into the city by Heejin as they follow Hyunjin leading the way. They went through markets, restaurants, shops, plazas, etc, to see if there was anything suspicious. Even making stops in between their investigations to purchase food and some souvenirs like they were touring, placing all of their stuff in a backpack that they also bought. Hyunjin didn't really feel Mia and Heejin's hype throughout the whole thing so she could only roll her eyes at them every time they made her stop so they could take a look at displays here and there. As they continued wandering, Heejin and Hyunjin caught the attention of many pedestrians’ eyes since they recognized the duo and their status as one of the best and most well known prodigies in the police force. They both didn't mind the spotlight and ignored it while Mia was being self-conscious and hid behind Heejin every time someone gaped at or were starstrucked seeing the two detectives. 

After more strolling (touring) the city, they all finally came to a stop in a somewhat desolate area.

“‘Motor and Tech Repair Stop’. Interesting. Let's see what they got.” Hyunjin stated before walking into the building without a warning from Mia or Heejin first, so they stick close behind the younger detective. 

“It looks like…only one person is working?” Mia squinted her eyes to get a better view of the distance between her and the repair store.

“A…kid?” Heejin frowned at the realization when they got closer.  Once they neared the store, the “kid” appeared before them, opening the door and welcoming the trio.

“Good morning! You guys seem new around here.”

“Yeah. I'm Kim Hyunjin, private detective and officer of BlockBerry Creative Defense Corporation.” She smiled and showed off her ID and badge in wallet to the young worker.

“Impressive. The academy must've been fun. I'm Yabuki Nako, owner and employee of this place.” 

“ _ Owner?? _ ” Heejin practically exclaimed, surprised and shocked at the information. “You seem very young.”

“Aw shucks it's nothing too major. People just come and go after I repair their stuff.” 

“That's still pretty impressive for a young person like you. By the way, I'm Heejin. Also a detective and officer under BBC Defense Corp.” 

“Welcome to Daegu! What brings you all here?” 

“A quick investigation. We had an eventful night yesterday and all the evidence we gained has led us back here. Do you mind if we ask you some questions?” 

“Sure! Come inside.” Nako opened the door for the trio as they entered as her eyes lingered to Mia, who didn't introduce herself yet.

“What's your name?” Nako asked while smiling as Mia turned around and eyed her. 

“Kim Euiji, but I go by Mia, you can just call me that.” Mia smiled as well, feeling Heejin's sudden attention on her. 

“Ah, you're just tagging along?” 

“Yeah, I happened to meet them around the city so I decided to come with them.” 

“Cool!”  Nako continued smiling and walked to the counter, facing her back towards the trio as her smile immediately vanished from her face. 

They didn't see the action and continued looking around. Hyunjin, being fascinated with anything motor, was gaping at the car engines and being distracted at all of the equipment used for the vehicle. On the other hand, Heejin continued furrowing her eyebrows. 

  
  


_ Kim Euiji?  _

  
  


Knowing Mia since the beginning of time, she knew very well her name is Han Eunjin. Heejin shot Mia a confused stare, raising her eyebrow at her friend who responded with a look as if saying “something isn't right.” Quickly understanding, Heejin played along before going up to Nako and asking her questions. 

Mia observed the machinery around the motor store. Nako had aligned various types of pedals, steering wheels, brakes, levers, and fuel gauges. As she inspected further, a dust-proof motor mask with darkened lens caught her attention, as well as…joysticks? And assorted types of bluetooth cards. Mia didn't have much knowledge regarding these items but hanging around Yeojin and Chaewon numerous times proved to be unexpectedly beneficial, so she figured these parts definitely belonged to a game console. Upon discovering this, she decided to approach Heejin’s conversation with Nako at the counter. 

“Have you seen anything weird around this area?”

“Weird how?” 

“Like uh…a monster?” Heejin tried to sound rational but Nako merely blinked at her as if she just said something dumb.

“…a what?” 

“I-it's crazy, I know. But hear me out.” 

“Well, not really. I work all day and I don't really see anything.” 

“Huh. So you don't hear any screaming either? Like an animal cry or roar?”

“Nope. I'm always in here with my music playing and I sometimes invite my friends over too.” 

"Alright." Heejin responded before fishing out her phone from her pocket. "We also wanted to ask about this area right here." Nako raised an eyebrow at her before straightening her back. 

"What about that area?"

"We were thinking about moving into these apartments, but we don't know much about them." Heejin easily lied. 

The shop's vibe was strangely making her feel uneasy. Maybe it was Mia's warning when she gave her a that look, but she was couldn't help but sense something odd about the store. She simply shook it off for now, deciding she'll discuss it with Mia later. 

"Are you planning to move there with your friends?" Nako merely pointed to Mia and Hyunjin. 

"Yeah uh..." Heejin looked over to her partner who was busy gawking at the car engine in front of her. 

The older detective snuck up to Hyunjin before interlocking their fingers, pulling the girl with her to the counter, much to Mia's surprise and Hyunjin's horror. Although shocked, she didn't miss the evil smirk on her face. Hyunjin frowned at her, having absolutely no idea what the heck was going on and why Heejin was holding her hand like that. 

"...you want to move here with your girlfriend and friend?" Nako corrected, her eyes glued to the screen. 

"Umー" Hyunjin didn't have time to finish her sentence when Heejin squeezed her hand harshly. Then she got the message. 

"Y-yeah." Hyunjin answered resisting the urge to death glare Heejin and pulled away her hand. Mia averted her attention away from the two detectives and observed the worker carefully, having not missed the way Nako's eyes had hardened when she saw the address on screen. 

"They're just your average apartments. Nothing really special about them." Nako said, looking up from the screen with a seemingly fake smile. Mia opened her mouth to say something, but opted to bite her tongue instead. Heejin pocketed her phone and flashed a smile.

"Do you mind telling us the directions to there?"

"Just go downtown where the block is and turn right when you see a movie theater at the last stop."

"Great! Thank you for your time, we'll get going now."

“Of course! Anytime. If you have any more questions, you can come to me.” 

“We'll keep that in mind. See you later, Nako!”

“Aw we're leaving so soon? Can I stick around and see more?” Hyunjin whined like a bratty child while pointing with her free hand to the car that peaked her interest. 

“We have to go. What're you even looking at?” 

“This! The engines are so cool.” 

Mia and Heejin looked at each other briefly before rolling their eyes and linked their arms with Hyunjin's, dragging her out of the store, much to her displeasement.

“Bye, Nako!” Heejin waved to the small girl before walking away as she and Mia pulled Hyunjin away.

Once the trio were out of Nako's sight, she instantly dropped her smile and muttered something inaudible at them, then closing the door behind her. She approached her counter and picked up her phone to call one of her friends. But Nako was left frustrated as they didn't pick up so she tried again. After four rings, a voice came through. 

_ “Hey sorry! I was busy with something.”  _

“Oh I'm sure you were.” Nako rolled her eyes, hearing a chuckle on the other side. “Anyways, guess who just paid me a visit today.” She smirked. 

_ “Ah-ha! I was right! Told you they were coming.” _

“Yeah yeah. But it's not just two of them. We have another friend tagging along.”

_ “Really? Who?” _

“Her name is Kim Euiji, aka Mia, I guess. She seems weird to me. But we'll just deal with the main two.” 

_ “I've heard they're troublesome, might as well get rid of them first.” _ Nako's friend laughed through the phone call while she smirked to their statement.

“You read my mind.” She leaned back on her chair and put her feet on the counter, giggling along with her friend as they continue chatting.

ー

Back in Heejin's car, the car owner sat at the steering wheel, Hyunjin in the passenger seat, and Mia in the back seat. The psychology major laid out her observations from the store.

“She lied.” Mia impassively stated.

“I was getting that message.” The older detective chuckled at her friend's deadpan.

“There's definitely something up with the apartments, judging by the way she froze looking at your phone with the addresses, which is already a red flag. She also said too much as you interviewed her. And lastly, I found some things in the store that didn't add up. There were bluetooth cards and joysticks belonging to game consoles.” 

“Game consoles?? Why would they be in a motor repair store?” Hyunjin was bewildered at Mia's findings.

“Exactly. I have a bad feeling and it's not fun.” 

“Then, does that mean she lied about where the address is too??” Heejin grunted, assuming they'd now have to locate the apartment complex on their own now that Mia realized Nako was lying.

“To be safe, we should ask other people around us. But all the while keeping an eye Nako somehow.”

“We might as well take a rest for the day. You both have been making too many stops on our way here.”

“Hush, Kim. We're lucky enough to have had fun in this dump. Now, hang tight two.” Heejin flashed her evil smirk. 

_Oh crap._ Hyunjin forgot about her partner's reckless driving.

“Wait wait WAIT WAIT NO--”

Before Hyunjin and Mia could prepare themselves, Heejin had already stomped on the gas pedal, sending the car into its fastest speed and racing off to one of the deserted parking lots of Nako's motor store across the street so she can maneuver all kinds of car tricks.

  


Heejin impetuously drifted her car here and there in a remote area without anything in her way while Hyunjin and Mia were practically wailing as this was going on. The older detective would step on the gas pedal to speed straight forward and abruptly turn the wheel, sending her car circling uncontrollably before drifting again. It felt like an insane roller coaster at Six Flags. While Heejin continued drifting and the two other girls screaming and crying for their lives, she realized they were out of coffee so she quickly sped away to find a cafe in the suburban part of the city. Upon spotting a somewhat empty coffee shop, she swiftly rotated the steering wheel and swirled right between two cars, one in front and behind hers, parking perfectly in front of the cafe. 

Heejin let out a happy sigh. It’s always good stress relief when she drives freely. She turned to look at Mia, only to see her hunched over, looking dead in the eyes. After a good amount of silence in the car, Mia was still trembling as she fumbled with the car handle to get out after weakly taking off her seat belt. Hyunjin remained in her seat, passed out from all the reckless driving from her devilish partner. Heejin, on the other hand, enthusiastically exited her car and stretched like a giddy kid who just went to the amusement park. However, the excitement was cut short when hands tightly gripped her neck. 

“I'M GOING TO FREAKING KILL YOU!!” 

“Ah- AH- MIA I-” Heejin managed to let out while Mia choked her harder, shaking her friend as she spoke. 

“THANKS TO YOU, I LOST MY FUCKING PHONE, YOU DUMBASS!!!”

The loud commotion was enough to wake Hyunjin up and she looked out the window to see what the hell was going before quickly regaining her energy and hopping out of the car to break up their fight.

“Alright alright break it up, break it up! Come on guys.” Hyunjin was able to pry the gripping hands from Heejin's neck. 

The two detectives hadn’t realized before, but Mia was in tears. Immediately regretting her decision, Heejin frantically cupped Mia's face to calm her down.

“No no no no no Mia I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please  _ please _ don't tell Jiwon.”

“Who??” Hyunjin frowned at the other detective. 

“My ‘girlfriend’…” Mia shyly avoided eye contact and sniffed while Heejin's hands were still on her face.

“I didn't know you had a girlfriend.” Hyunjin said with surprise in her eyes. Mia looked shyly down at her hands.

“Well, not really…we’ve never spoken about it but we’re…something.” Mia said, playing with the cuffs of her sleeves.

“I'll pay for your coffee.” Heejin suddenly offered, hoping it'd take their minds off of Jiwon for a bit. 

“Alright…I could use some anyways.” Mia sniffed for the last time before walking slowly to the cafe with Heejin close behind her, followed by Hyunjin.

(Artist: giaonp on deviantart  
https://t.co/UfcST6GqhR)

The trio sat at a table nearest to the windows after ordering their drinks. Heejin held onto Mia’s hand to comfort her as much as possible while Hyunjin sat there awkwardly. 

“So…about our encounter with Nako, what'd you ask her?” 

“Mostly about the outskirts area of Daegu. And then I asked her about the…thing we saw that night, but I wasn't obvious about it.” 

“And what'd she say?” 

“She didn't know what I was talking about.” Heejin shrugged before Mia pitched in.

“She seemed a little, I don't know, lenient about it? I mean, I get that seeing a ‘monster’ sounds like a joke but she knew you both are basically cops so any interrogation should be taken seriously.”

“Oh that reminds me, why’d you lie about your name?” 

“So that she doesn't find out who I am. This is Daegu, you really can't trust anyone with your private info. You can find out a lot from just a name, such as your major.” Mia had a point. Now both Heejin and Hyunjin weren't so sure of disclosing the fact that they were detectives in front of Nako. “And also, I saw the way her expression changed and how she kinda tensed up when you showed her the IP addresses to the apartment complex. So, either the place is suspicious or Nako has something to do with it.” 

“Wow. That's a lot to take in. Well, looks like we'll have to see what's up then. But I still don't have any internet connection.” Heejin huffed, feeling stressed about not being able to use Google Maps. And because she was at fault for the loss of Mia's phone, Hyunjin was their last opportunity. 

Before Heejin could ask her partner’s phone for Google Maps, her own phone started blaring an eerie ringtone. She gasped in terror and was just about to toss it out the window as well, but Mia lurched forward to grab it. 

“That's your ringtone for Jiwon??” Mia questioned, a small smile now on her face. Heejin nervously nodded, taking a deep breath before preparing herself to be yelled at by Mia’s scary, not-yet-girlfriend.   
  
_ “Jeon Heejin you have five seconds to explain yourself bef–” _   
  
“Jiwonnie” Mia said in a soft tone, taking the phone from Heejin’s agitating hands.    
  
_ “Oh, hey Eunji-ah,” _ Jiwon responded, in an equally soft tone, and Hyunjin almost got whiplash from how fast it changed from the tone used on Heejin.  _ “Are you alright? If I have to kick her ass, I will–” _   
  
“Hey hey, don’t worry, Heejin’s going to make it up to me.”    
  
_ “Okay…” _   
  
“Yeah. And as you probably saw, I lost my phone. Heejin will buy me a new one.”

_ “I see. But, you're ok, right?” _

“I'm fine, Jiwonnie.” Mia chuckled into the phone. “I'm in the middle of investigating right now, so I’ll see you later?”    
  
_ “Will do. And babe, can I speak to Heejin for a second?” _   
  
“Of course.” Mia passed the phone back to Heejin, and it was scary how Jiwon’s tone changed immediately back. Once her phone was in her hands again, she began trembling again.   
  
_ “Heejin, if you let anyone touch even a hair on Eunji’s head, I will shave your eyebrows when you sleep.” _ She threatened, and Hyunjin shivered in Heejin’s place, the older’s knuckles white on the table.   
  
“U-u-understood.” Heejin said, her voice wavering towards the end. After Jiwon hung up, the partners simultaneously sighed in relief. “How did Jiwon even find out Mia was upset??” Heejin thought aloud, and Hyunjin choked on her drink.    
  
“Let’s just focus on getting to the apartments.” Mia butted in, winking at the younger detective as smiled gratefully at her. Heejin gave them a strange look before shaking her head and complying.

Mia chuckled at them and wore a small smile for the rest of their stay in the cafe.

\--

  
  


After deciding to leave the cafe, Mia and Hyunjin forced Heejin to sit in the back (much to her protesting that she wouldn't drive recklessly again) as they used the younger detective's phone to operate Google Maps and locate the apartment complex. The clock had struck night so the trio had to be quick with this mission, all the while constantly being on the lookout. When they finally got there, they had to go through the gate guard who looked like he was in his teens. He obviously didn't look like he wanted to be there as he had his chin in his hand, slowly falling asleep with his somewhat closed.

“Welcome to Oakwood Cove, what do you want?” He asked in a very lazy manner while dozing off.

“Uuuuhhh I'd like to check out the apartment complex, if you don't mind.” Hyunjin smiled awkwardly, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. 

“Whatever~” The young guard shrugged and pressed the button to open the gates for Hyunjin to drive through. 

“What a weird guy….” She muttered before parking in an empty spot. The car was turned off and Hyunjin threw the keys at Heejin, who responded with a glare. 

“Now what?” Mia questioned her two friends in the passenger seat. “The place seems to be pretty empty…except that large white van over there.” She gestured for Hyunjin and Heejin to look. 

“Welp, whatever this place is, we should just be quick and go home after all this.” 

“If we survive….” Heejin pondered as she looked out the window. 

“Stop being so angsty! We  _ will _ survive as long as you two don't kill each other first.” Mia rolled her eyes before exiting the car, followed by the two detectives who looked at each other, surprised (but unsurprised) by her input.

“Guess we don't have time to lose, wanna split up so we can find more clues that way?” Hyunjin placed her hands on her hips. 

“Uuuhh you do realize that's how characters die in horror movies after splitting up, right?” Heejin arched an eyebrow.

“This is real life and we're cops, Jeon.  _ And _ we have weapons, what's the worst that could happen??” 

“Did you forget this is Daegu?! The freak ass monster is still loose in god knows where and Mia doesn't even have a weapon.” 

“Actually…I do.” Shyly looking away from surprised gaze from her friends again, Mia timidly lifted her jacket to show a tranquilizer gun attached to her belt in a holster. She'd been hiding it for the whole day, how the hell did they not see it sooner?

“What the- when- where'd you get that??” Heejin was utterly shocked but in a good way. All her life, she’s known Mia as the shy and cute girl in her elementary school years, so the last thing she expected was for Mia to wield a weapon before.

“Jiwon gave it to me for safe keeping. Right when you asked me to tag along with you on this mission, I knew I had to bring it along.” 

“Well I mean, that's- good! I just didn't expect that at all. I'm so proud of you.” Heejin smiled while clasping onto Mia's hand.

“Thanks.” She chuckled and squeezed back.

“Oook then. We'll all just stick together.” Hyunjin sighed and looked in the other direction awkwardly. Could this day get any weirder? 

The trio made their way up the stairs and went through the first hallway they encountered. If the light wasn't there to illuminate the area, it would've been a gloomier sight. Mia stayed close to Heejin's side, clinging onto her arm out of nervousness of the area. This was the place that made Nako tense up after all. 

Although the apartments looked normal, the paranoid and suspicious vibe the trio got sent shivers down their spine. It didn’t help that there was no on in the lobby to prevent them from walking right in either. Heejin took the initiative to start knocking on every door, hoping there would be people to answer their questions but it all proved useless when no one would respond. Hyunjin walked ahead of Heejin, trying the knobs on each of the doors, to the further dismay of Mia.

“Doesn't seem like anyone is here at this moment…whoever runs this complex must've ditched.” Mia was now shaking while holding onto Heejin's arms for comfort. 

“Along with everyone else it seems.” Hyunjin added, somehow unfazed by the empty area and continued knocking on doors until she reached the last room at the end of the hall and knocked. 

They waited. And waited…and waited.

_ And waited. _

After about 6 minutes of standing there, Hyunjin finally spoke up. 

“I'm getting impatient.” She slightly pouted, earning a chuckled from Mia and a…blush from Heejin? 

“T-then let's move onto the other apartments, shall we?” Heejin stuttered before turning the other direction so she could hide her blush and hopefully make it not visible. 

“Sure.” Hyunjin shrugged. “Maybe we couldー"

https://twitter.com/somistin/status/1118745012160741376?s=19


	4. Unknown City

8:56 AM, ư̴̥̻͚̠̹̘̲̗̪̣̼͚̭̺̳̑̑̈́͊̑͑̏̓̌̉̿n̶͕͖̰͖͎̘̼̹̅k̸̢͈̣̭̰̠͙̩̼̖̂̉̀̀̇͝n̶̛͖̤̳̜͎̜̜̲̙̮̮͓̻͛̊̒̊͌̾ơ̶̼̗̱̬̠͖̈̌̓̊͂͒̏̈͘͠w̶̮͓̬͔͓͈̹̘̙̍͌̌͜n̷̛͖͙̻̰͘ ̴̨͖̯̮̘̹̻̲͚͕̘̹̂̈́̓̌̈́̄̆̽̆͋͌̚͜͠ͅc̵̬͔̯̈͒̅̾̽̆̄͌̋͌͛͠ǐ̸̩̳͕̲̈́̎̽̍̆̓̔͌̋̍́͜͝͝ͅt̷̤̜͕͙͖̱͖͛͆y̷̦̟͍̰̟͚̠̹̞̫̔̐̓͆̑̈́͑̚͘͜͜͝   
  
  
  
Meanwhile, far from home, a young girl had been staring out the window at the skyline, wishing she hadn’t become familiar with it. She continued staring for minutes on end. It wasn’t like she had much to do here but waste her life away, and although it wasn’t like life was bad here, her heart ached and yearned to go home.    
  
She couldn’t, though. There was too much at stake.

  
With a heavy-hearted sigh, she finally picked up the phone that had been vibrating wildly on the mattress beside her. 

  
  
“…hello?”    
  
_ “Did you just wake up? You sound tired.”  _ _   
_   
“…yeah.”   
  
She didn’t mean to put her hurt into that one word, but it slipped out anyways.   
  
A sigh from the other end.    
  
_ “I’m sorry.” _ _   
_   
“...”   
  
_ “I can’t do anything without risking everything…everyone.”  _ __   
  
“I don’t expect you to. But if you really cared about them, you wouldn't continue this shit.”

_ “You know I care about you, right? Even though our circumstances are not the best, I care a lot, maybe too much, about you.” _ _   
_   
“Yeah, right. I cared about you too, before the truth was revealed.” She mumbled bitterly, thinking if the person on the other side was hurt, they sure hid it well.    
  
_ ““It sounds like you've been updated with the news lately. How do you feel?”  _ _   
_   
“…am I allowed to feel?”    
  
_ “Aw, don't so sound upset.” _ _   
_   
“I have every right to be upset.”    
  
_ “Of course you do, but that apparently didn't matter when we last saw each other.”  _ _   
_   
“Because you know exactly why. You were there.”    
  
_ “…anyways, they're just starting. Maybe they'll meet their goal. Maybe they won't.”  _ _   
_   
“If you hurt them or even lay a finger on them-”   
  
_ “What are you gonna do? Kill me?” _ _   
_   
“…….hearing that from you is like you just straight out cursing me out.”    
  
__ “I’m sorry. ” Another sigh. She sighed too often nowadays.   
  
“Stop apologizing if you don’t mean it.” She growled before softening her tone and continuing, “even if you mean well, it’s making me feel worse. Please just…just tell me how they’re doing.” She didn't care if she sounded desperate.

Just then, yelling in the background could be heard. It sounded like kids playing games on the TV and wilding as they were competing against each other in a race since one of them shouted Yoshi and how they're going to beat Princess Peach on a “rainbow road”. It was them. She could hear the lively voices in the background of those she terribly missed. One in particular though, ____’s hit her like someone just poured a bucket of cold water on her. Her heart clenched, but luckily (or unluckily) the person on the other side spoke up again.

_ “Was that good enough for you?” _

“…yes.” 

“**_bzzzt_** _has been doing well, she misses you-” _A crash interrupted the caller before she could properly finish her sentence. _“Shit…I have to go now. I'll call you later, our discussion isn't over.”_   
  


  
—Beep—   
  


After leaving the mysterious person on the other side of the connection hanging, that particular individual still had her phone to her ear before slowly moving it down. All she felt was anger, relief, sadness, and betrayal. She gripped her phone tightly in her hands, frowning as tears began forming in her eyes, slightly shaking from the intense emotions she was now experiencing. She let her tears fall as she broke down into soft sobbing, feeling utterly hopeless and useless. She didn't want this fake life to continue any longer and can only hope for a favorable future.

“I'm sorry…everyone.”

She tossed the phone aside, and then proceeded to take out her frustration on the nearest unfortunate pillow.


	5. Final Monster Showdown

_ ………………what the _ _ FUCK _ _ was that? _

They all had the same thought when they all turned back to look at the door leading to the seemingly dark, ghostly room. Hyunjin tried taking a peek from distance but she couldn't see anything.

“W-we should- probably just go-” Before Mia could properly suggest they look somewhere else, Hyunjin opened the door wide. “It's open!” She shouted as Heejin ran to slap a hand over her mouth.   
  
“We might disturb the residents and be kicked out, you dumbass!” Heejin hissed. Mia facepalmed.  
  
“We don’t know what’s in these apartments, or what kind of people. If there's _even_ people here.” Mia whispered, walking closer.  
  
“As long as we're together, we’ll be fine.” Heejin whispered, letting go of Hyunjin and walking into the open apartment. Hyunjin followed on her heel and Mia followed begrudgingly and closed the door behind her before preparing her tranquilizer gun.

  
  
It was a pretty normal apartment, and smelled of violets and pizza. It was relatively neat, with only a few stray hoodies lying around here and there. The two detectives checked every room in the apartment. Hyunjin felt thirsty and as she was about to get some water, she turned abruptly, making Heejin collide into her. She huffed and took a step back before crossing her arms over her chest, looking up at Hyunjin with a raised eyebrow.

“Watch it, Kim.” This earned an eye roll from Hyunjin. 

“I should be annoyed about you telling Nako I'm your girlfriend.” Heejin turned red at the sudden change in topic, her mouth opening and closing like a fish as Mia wiggled her eyebrows from behind. The older detective’s eye twitched at that response. Hyunjin wasn't sure why, but her cheeks were starting to get warm as well.  
  
“That was a lie so it would be more believable!”  
  
“Uh-huh. Your hands were too sweaty….”  
  
“I did it to embar—"

“Ok ok, before you two get into an argument again, remember we're here for a reason.” Mia raised her eyes and pointed at the two detectives then walked away to investigate another room. 

They both stood there silently for a bit before glancing at each other. Their eye contact was instantly cut, too embarrassed to continue their…interesting conversation. Hyunjin strolled over to the kitchen to get some water while Heejin looked into the bedroom. And boy were there tons of video games. From Nintendo consoles, wiis, xboxes, playstations, and more, nearly placed everywhere in the room. Posters of anime and game characters plastered everywhere on the wall. 

_ This owner must be RICH rich _, Heejin thought to herself. Then a large arcade machine caught her eye. 

  


**Street Fighters**

The name definitely brought back memories of when she was just in middle school, sneaking out of her house at night to hang out with all her friends. They practically played every single video game that ever existed in the world. Her best memory was when she snuck out and biked all the way to the arcade to meet up with everyone who were still with her in the station after all these years. She remembered playing games after games with everyone, especially Yeojin, Mia, Chaewon and……Hyejoo.

A sudden stab in her heart brought some tears forming in her eyes. She placed her hand on her chest to calm herself down from the sudden rise in emotions and anxiety at the same time. Her breathing slowly became erratic and just then, Mia entered the bedroom. 

“Oh! Here you are, I was looking for…you.” She frowned and immediately led Heejin to the bed upon seeing her tear stricken eyes. “Hey, hey it's ok…I'm here.” Mia embraced her best friend in a warm, tight hug as Heejin softly cried in her shoulders. 

“I miss her….” 

“I know, sweetie…I know. I miss her, too.” She rubbed Heejin's back to ease her stress. 

“I-I…this is m-my fault….” 

“No, Heejin no. It was never your fault. We didn't have any leads back then.” 

“I-I know but…I just want her back….” 

“Heejinnie…I get it…the hardships we went through was unbearable. But we're getting there, I promise you. We just have to be stronger for not only Hyejoo, but for ourselves as well.” Mia continued rubbing Heejin's back in a slow manner before speaking up again. “You're so strong, Heejin…stronger than anyone I've ever known and seen.” 

“Even Jiwon?” The sad girl jokingly asked.

“Yes, even Jiwon.” Mia chuckled and embraced Heejin further. “In this time and day, you just wonder what the hell was she thinking, disappearing without a trace like that. I know I would. I was angry, sad, confused, worried, anxious, and stressed. All for one person. A very important person to me. We all suffered together, but that's what makes us bond and grow. I almost…couldn't last either. I couldn't help it and just nearly called it off, I never stopped thinking about Hyejoo. But you never gave up and that's what amazing about you, Heejin. You're strong, smart, funny, adorable. Sometimes I even wonder if you're human or not.” They both giggled at Mia's antic as Heejin leaned her head on her shoulder. “I was inspired, thanks to you. Now here I am. On a mission in this shithole of a city, with you. And Kim Hyunjin, which I still can't believe, by the way.” 

“Mia~ you're in the middle of a motivational speech, my rival is irrelevant.” Heejin cutely pouted as the psychology major chuckled and playfully rolled her eyes before gently placing her friend's head on her shoulder again. 

“Let me finish. As I was saying, I wanna be strong for Hyejoo. And I'm not willing to give up until I find her. Therefore, I want you to be as strong as you can as well. I know it's really hard right now, but I know you have every potential to complete this case. Don't let anything get in yours or Hyunjin's way, ok?” Mia cupped Heejin’s face in her hands and the other girl nodded, earning a chuckle in response. 

“Hey guys!” Hyunjin called from outside the bedroom. 

“Yeah?” Mia answered back. 

“Come check this out.” The younger detective appeared at the door and stopped for a split second to ponder why they're sitting on some stranger's bed before shrugging it off. “I found something interesting.” 

“Alright. We'll take a look.” Mia stood along with Heejin while still holding onto her hand. Hyunjin led them to the living room and sat on the couch at the coffee table. 

“I found these laying here. They say something about ‘invasion’, ‘surrounding’, ‘rule the world’ and stuff. I'm taking these to the station.”

“Shouldn't you have a warrant for that?” The psychology major looked up from the papers, arching an eyebrow. 

“W-well. In this day and age, Daegu doesn't need a warrant to he investigated.” 

“Maybe this could give us more leads…this note says, ‘XIIX, we will bite back.’” Heejin read from the note, taken aback from the quote. 

“That's not…pleasant.” 

“Yeeaah, we should definitely bring these back to the station. Put it in your pocket.” Heejin directed before Hyunjin complied and stuffed the notes in her coat pocket.

“I should take some, too. I'll see what Jiwon has to say to these then I'll report back to you.” Mia stuffed some in her bag as well while Heejin nodded.

“Great! Now we're good to go.”

  
“_Finally _. You guys have no idea how long I've been wanting to get out of here—

https://twitter.com/somistin/status/1118745060902727681?s=19

Mia was interrupted mid-sentence and there was a shocked silence for a few slow seconds before Heejin, Hyunjin, and Mia screamed at the top of their lungs. They were absolutely not expecting the apartment door to suddenly be kicked down by a giant Big Bird mascot that came out of nowhere. 

The two detectives pulled out their guns and shot a few rounds at the bird while shrieking as Mia ducked and covered her ears behind the couch at the blaring sounds of gunshots, also screaming. The firing and screaming suddenly stopped. Before Mia could get up from her spot to see what happened, the chance was taken from her as her friends had practically wrestled the mascot out of the doorway before dragging her out with them. As they all ran for their lives, they didn't care if the thing was chasing them or not, getting out was the only thing on their minds. No matter how ridiculous a giant big bird was, Hyunjin wasn’t going to take any chances with staying in the same building as it

The trio ended up in the lobby before they realized, so they frantically looked around to find a quick exit. Their eyes locked onto Heejin's car outside through the glass doors and quickly dashed to exit. But the doors wouldn't budge.

“Why the fuck are these locked on the inside?!” Hyunjin shouted before backing up to kick on the glass and break it but both Mia and Heejin immediately held her back.

“Don't do that! We could be charged for destruction of property, dumbass!” Heejin snapped at her partner before Mia pointed towards the elevator. Without anymore hesitations, the tiny space promptly got crowded as the trio bursted in and Hyunjin frantically pressed a button.

  
  


** _Floor 6_ **

  
  


“Why are we going there??” 

“I don't know! We were too busy being desperate to get away from that bird so I had to click _ something _.” Hyunjin rationalized as she took deep breaths to calm herself now. 

“At least we finally escaped whatever the hell that was.” Mia cleared her sore throat before running it in hopes to ease the pain. 

“Ok, alright. Now that we're safe, we need a plan to get the fuck out of here.” 

“Then what's the planー” A loud roaring interrupted Hyunjin’s question.

All three instantly fell silent. “What was that….” Next came some bumping on the ceiling and the cry sounded again.

“Wait a minute. That roar sounds familiar….” Just when Heejin said that, both her and Hyunjin looked at each other, eyes wide with horrible realization. It couldn't be. 

“What?” Mia stared at two frozen detectives but they didn't seem to notice her question since they were too shocked to even comprehend. “_ What's _familiar??” The psychologist questioned eagerly one more time until a thundering pound on the ceiling brought their attention back to the ceiling.

“Mia. Get behind me, right now.” Heejin commanded, still eyeing the ceiling as she pulled out her gun. Only then Mia finally got the message and hastily cowered behind her friend. 

The monster was back. The exact same one from the satellite building.

Hyunjin quickly whipped out her gun and aimed up at the escape hatch, glancing at it intensely as she waited for it to come through somehow. However, for it's big size, there was no way it could get through that small hole on the ceiling. 

Suddenly, it let out an immensely loud cry and the trio instinctively covered their ears. Once it stopped, the monster pried at the hatch again and this time, it finally worked. The monster growled and peaked its head through a small opening. Its eyes were still hollow and bloody and the jagged, lengthy canines were covered in blood as the two detectives had remembered. Upon seeing the monster for the first time, the fear was too overwhelming for Mia and she collapsed to the ground. That was when Hyunjin started firing at the monster, causing it to recoil from its previous position. 

“Mia!!” Heejin was quickly by her friend’s side. “Oh god, _ please _ wake up!” She lightly patted Mia's face in hopes of getting her eyes to open. 

“She's not dead, dimwit! The door's gonna open any minute now so hurry and carry her on your back!!” 

Right after Hyunjin finished her sentence, the elevator finally opened and she quickly helped the unconscious Mia on Heejin's back before pushing her partner to run ahead of her as she followed behind, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see if the monster got through the hatch or not. They ran down the hall and away from the elevator. However, the two could only make little distances than they'd hoped from the monster since Heejin was slower with Mia on her back. That gave enough time for it demolish the ceiling of the elevator and burst through the closing doors, chasing after the group. 

Heejin would’ve cursed if she wasn’t so out of breath. Hyunjin settled with quickly using her handgun and firing a few shots into it before running the opposite direction, the fear now processing.

“The stairwell!” Hyunjin shouted as she pointed. 

They hurriedly ran down the stairs with the monster close at their feet. Hyunjin continued looking behind her and shooting at their pursuer multiple times in hopes of slowing it down. 

They then reached a dark hall before Hyunjin quickly guided Heejin towards the route as they dashed. As they continued running away from the vicious predator, the two detectives encountered large doors leading to a room. Without another thought, they barged into the pitch black room and Hyunjin frantically dragged a chair over to jam the door knob. Afterwards, they managed to find a table and hide under it despite the darkness. Mia was safely placed on the floor next to the duo and Heejin used her coat as a pillow for her friend. 

Outside, the hallway lights shined through the doors’ glass windows, somewhat lighting up the dark room they were currently trapped in. They both waited for the monster break through those doors so they ambush it by firing at it. Except, they weren't sure how bullets they had left.

“How much do you have left, Jeon?” Hyunjin whispered, and then looked at her partner who, in response, opened the detachable magazine to show the amount of bullets she currently had; 15 out of 30 left. 

“I've already used up half of my bullets. How the hell is that thing not dead yet?” Heejin frowned before shoving the magazine back into her handgun before waiting again. “How are we going to ambush it by the way?” 

“We're gonna corner using this table. I'll go to the other side and you'll stay here. Once it's on the table, you flick the light switch by the doors on. Got it?” Hyunjin placed both her hands on Heejin's shoulders to emphasize how serious she was with this plan. The other detective, however, blushed at the sudden contact and was highly hoping her partner couldn't see her red cheeks in the dim lighting.

“But how do you know it'll hop onto the table??” 

“Just trust me! I know what I'm doing.” Before Heejin could even retort back, Hyunjin already disappeared to the other side of the room, much to her disappointment. 

Sighing, Heejin began situating herself back to her assigned spot. She averted her attention back to the door and to her horror, the monster’s face was looking through the windows. The very sight of it sent shivers down her spine. On instinct, she held her gun close and ducked further under the table. She scooted after carefully hiding Mia's still unconscious body so it wasn't in the monsters sight. 

The next thing she knew, the monster began pounding the doors furiously. It let out another loud roar before slamming it's way through the barricaded entrance. The monster snarled and scanned the not-so-dark-room-anymore. Now that the doors were down, the hallway's lighting revealed the inside of large room even more. And since the table was spacious had tiled legs, it was much easier hiding underneath there.

Then suddenly, there were some noises at the center of the table, as if something small and metallic was thrown onto the surface. Heejin swore her heart dropped right then and there when the monster turned around with a visible glare. The next thing they knew, it suddenly hopped onto the table and roared. That was Heejin's que to switch the lights on. So she did. Immediately when the room brightened, the monster locked its bloodshot eyes at Heejin and the detective froze in her spot. Until Hyunjin appeared from her hiding spot as well. 

“Hey! Asshole!” 

The monster instantly averted its attention to Hyunjin, who pointed her gun at it. A blaring cry unexpectedly emitted from the monster, causing the duo to yell in pain and shield their ears from the scream. When Hyunjin opened her eyes again, a chair flew towards her direction, but she was fast enough to duck for cover while the object was destroyed above her and the debris spilled on her. 

Quickly taking action, Heejin fired 4 rounds at its back before running to the other side of the room so the monster can stay far away from Mia while the two detectives battled their ferocious enemy. Gunshots were sounded here and there as they fended the beast off. Hyunjin took the initiative to hurl a chair from the desk towards the monster, directly hitting its head. On the other hand, Heejin kicked the monster's stomach, causing it to stumble backwards, which allowed Hyunjin to shoot at its leg. Just as she was about to fire some more bullets, Hyunjin was suddenly pinned against the wall by the monster's gigantic hands, and unfortunately, dropped her gun in the process. Only then she realized how big it was. 

While she was struggling to set herself free, a horrified Heejin aimed at the monster again and fired more rounds. She didn't care if she was running out of bullets, she just wanted that thing to take its hand off her partner. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Mia began stirring awake from all the commotion. Having no idea what's going and where she is, Mia carefully scanned her surroundings. 

That was when the gun fire alerted her immediately. Quickly crawling out from her spot, she witnessed Hyunjin pinned to the wall by the monster as the said detective kept punching its fingers while Heejin remained in her position, using up all her bullets.

The monster had enough of the older detective's actions and proceeded to rush towards Heejin, grabbing her and lifting her up into the air. It screamed at her before circling its index finger and thumb around her throat. Heejin was now the one struggling in its hold, using her free hand to grip onto the monster's fingers while wearily lifting her arm to aim her gun at its head. She pulled the trigger.

But instead of the sound of a gunshot, she was met with the click of an empty chamber. 

She was out of ammo. 

Seeing this, the monster tightened its grip around Heejin, choking her even more as she gasped for air and weakly grabbed onto its fingers. Utterly dismayed, Hyunjin suddenly let out a deafening war cry and launched herself on the monster before pulling out her pocket knife. She wrapped her arm around its neck and began stabbing it in a fanatical manner. Mia frantically came out from her hiding spot and quickly whipped out her tranquilizer gun, aiming at the enormous creature before her.

“Mia!!!” Hyunjin yelled the psychologist’s name upon setting her eyes on her. Heejin looked toward Mia's direction as well, but barely had the strength to display her shock. 

Hyunjin jumped off the monster, knowing what Mia was about to do. Just then, the monster loosened its grip on Heejin, dropping her. But before she could hit the ground, Hyunjin intervened, lunging forward with outstretched arms and saved her partner from the nasty fall, carrying Heejin in bridal style. Her attention then shifted to Mia. 

“Mia watch out!” Hyunjin shouted as the monster rushed towards the psychology major. But Mia didn't bat an eye.  


As it got closer, she could see the holes the bullets left behind, and one of them, to her surprise, gave Mia the slight glimpse of human skin. Within seconds, she had her tranquilizer gun drawn and aimed at the weak spot. Just as the monster lunged forward, she shot a dart into the opening, earning a girly yelp from inside the monster. Everyone stood frozen in their spots (except Heejin, who wrapped her arms around Hyunjin), shocked at the…human-like sound. 

Then, out of the blue, Mia gathered the bravery to tackle the monster. After a minute or two of struggle, the monster stopped trying to fight back, its movements became sluggish. It stopped all at once and Mia sighed in relief before tucking the tranquilizer gun back into her belt. When she looked up, she was met with the awestruck, jaw-dropped faces of the partners against crime and smiled bashfully.

“Hot….” Hyunjin stood there, with Heejin still in her arms, starstruck. Her partner, however, glared at her and stirred in Hyunjin's hold so she could let her go. “Geez, feisty.” She returned the glare that was thrown at her.

“You guys uh…heard that yelp too, right? It wasn't just me?” Mia challenged her delusions to make sure she wasn't crazy.

“No. I heard it as well.” Heejin chuckled at her friend's querying before pointing to the monster. “It…looks like it's out cold? The eyes are still open.” Hesitantly, Hyunjin tapped at the monster’s shoulder and shook it. No response.

“Welp. It ain't moving. Let's see what's inside this thing.” 

“Uh. How?” Mia looked Hyunjin incredulously.

“I-I mean. It must be a suit since we all heard that yelp. There's probably a zipper somewhere on this thing.”

“Hmm…I don't see any zippers on its stomach.” Heejin scanned the monster's tummy but saw no signs of a zipper. 

“Then it must be in the back. Help my lift this thing.” 

That proved to be more difficult than they all thought, as it weighed approximately 150 pounds. But since Hyunjin did most of the lifting, they were able to roll the ginormous monster over on its stomach, quickly spotting a zipper.

“Ah-ha!! I knew it!” Hyunjin immediately reached for the pull tab and unzipped.

The last thing they all expected was Nako rolling out of the suit with the dart still attached to her shoulder.


	6. Interrogation

The trio didn’t spot big bird as they walked out of the building, Nako in handcuffs, still unconscious on Hyunjin’s shoulder and Mia and Heejin doing their best to drag the monster costume with them.

“How long does she stay unconscious?” Hyunjin asked.  
  
“She should wake up a few hours after we get back to the station.” Mia answered. But once they exited out, dozens of police cars were already surrounding the apartment complex. “……what the hell?” 

“How did they know when to get here??” 

“I texted for help while I was under the desk.” Hyunjin explained to relieve the confusion. “I guess I forgot to tell you guys.”

** _~a few moments ago~_ **

Hyunjin used the calm but tense silence before the storm to her advantage, unlocking her phone and texting Haseul about their whereabouts and what happened. She glanced up briefly at where Heejin and Mia were in the dark room before continuing typing away quickly at her phone, not caring if Haseul was going to beat her for shouting at her in all caps. As soon as she sent the last text, the monster came into view through the windows.

**[End of flashback]**

** **

“Well you should've! I almost called Haseul, too.” Heejin commented, still in awe at the crowd before them.

Everyone in their own station had been eagerly waiting outside for their friends to walk out of the complex unscathed. Once they set their eyes on Hyunjin, Heejin, and Mia, they instantly charged at them for a big group hug. Yeojin koala-hugged Mia, nearly choking all the air out of the older girl as her arms and legs tightly wrapped around her. Mia, although having difficulties breathing, hugged Yeojin back as well.

“Yeojinnie~ it's been so long!” 

“You should visit us more often, unnie.” The young hacker whined, easing her grip around Mia's neck, earning some soft pats on her back.

“Sorry, Yeojin…I just wish I wasn't so busy with work. Maybe then we could spend more time together with everyone else.” Mia sighed and continued rubbing Yeojin's back.

Chaewon, on the other hand, did the same to Heejin, only she was lighter so the older detective could easily carry her. After the big group hug everyone had to go to their respective tasks around the complex. Yeojin and Chaewon decided to stay behind.

“Asaaaa~ you guys made it out!” She laid her head on Heejin’s shoulder. 

“I did~ ugh, you won't believe what happened today.” 

“I hope it wasn't too much. Are you okー” Before Chaewon could finish her sentence, she was quick to notice a red mark around her friend's neck. “Heejin….” She hopped off her friend and gently placed her hand over Heejin's neck. 

“I'm fine, I'm fine, thanks to Mia andーthis.” She merely pointed her thumb at Hyunjin who dramatically gasped, clearly taken aback at the sudden hostility. 

“I saved your life back there! A thanks would be nice.” She glared at her evil partner for discrediting her heroic behavior. 

“Well maybe if you weren't ogling my friend so much, then maybe I'd credit you!”

“Why are _ you _ so caring about how I feel??” 

“I-I, uhー” All of Heejin's friend immediately cracked up at her stuttering.

As they started getting out of hand with their hysterical laughing, Haseul finally broke it up and told Yeojin and Chaewon to go sit in her van and wait. Then she turned back to look at the trio and hugged Mia.

“Hey, Mia! I haven't seen you in a while.” 

“I know. The one time I was free today, I get sucked into Heejin's work.” Mia jokingly stated, chuckling at the small whine from Heejin. 

“I've been thinking about this for the longest time now. You should join the police force sometime, Mia. You're pretty qualified for the job.” 

“……I don't think so. I'm too much of a coward for this stuff.” This earned a cute pout from Haseul, but the older woman understood anyways. 

“Haseul-ah! Can you help us with this?” Sooyoung appeared from behind, panting from slight exhaustion as she pointed at the gigantic monster suit that had to be dragged by more than a dozen officers. Haseul turned back around to look at Mia, sharing the same shocked and fearful face.

“Y-yeah uh, I'll be there in a sec.” As Sooyoung made her way back to assist with the suit, Haseul bid her farewell to Mia for now. “I hope to see you more soon, my beautiful child.” Haseul smiled warmly at the psychology major, who blushed as a response and timidly waved goodbye. It's been so long since she's heard Haseul call her that. Heejin chuckled at the soft interaction while Hyunjin stood there awkwardly since she didn't know anything about their type friendship. 

Mia then turned around to speak to Hyunjin and Heejin. “So guys, about the…mission today, how are you going to interrogate Nako? Being the kid she is, I don't think she'd reveal anything so easily.” 

“Ugh crap, you're right. There has to be some way to pry something out of her.” Hyunjin groaned 

“I'd probably suggestー” 

“Mia!!” The trio all turned to look at the voice that called her name, only to see Jiwon hopping out of her car that she'd just parked. 

“Jiwon!” Mia yelled back and ran to her soon-to-be-girlfriend's passionate embrace. “You're here! I didn't think you'd come.” 

“I was worried sick about you, babe….” Jiwon gently caressed Mia's cheek before briefly pecking her lips. Then, she looked over Mia's shoulders and met Heejin's terrified glance. 

Heejin had both her hands on Hyunjin's shoulders and frantically hid behind her partner, cowering away from Jiwon. Hyunjin, however, was also scared.

“What the hell, you asshole?? You don't think she's gonna kill me, too???” Hyunjin harshly whispered to Heejin. But instead of an understanding response, she received a whisper back.

“For _ what _?!” 

“For gaying over her girlfriend!!” 

“For _WHAT?!_” Hearing Jiwon's sudden raised tone, the two detectives yelped and stumbled backwards a little. Since when did Jiwon approach them so quickly?

“What'd you say, Kim Hyunjin?” 

“U-uuh wellー I didn'tー” 

“Don't try going for Eunji, alright? She's mine.” 

“Yah, Jiwon-ah. Go easy on them, Hyunjin didn't know.” 

“But didn't Heejin almost kill you and made you lose your phone?” The comment made the said girl slump from guilt, her hands still on Hyunjin's shoulders.

“I-I know, but I forgive her, Jiwonnie. She's like a sister to me, so I'll let it slide. Just this once.” She eyed her best friend knowingly, earning a small, shy smile.

“…alright. As long as you weren't hurt, then I'll let it slip, too. But,” she turned around and pointed to Heejin, “next time.” Heejin's eye widened in fear at the comment. _ What the hell was that supposed to mean? _

“Ready to come home, babe?” Jiwon’s eyes softened.

“Ah…I really wish I could right now, but…I think maybe I should stay longer and help them with some interrogating.” 

“Then I'll come with you.”

“Oh, are you sure you aren't tired? It's been a long day, I don't want to keep you waiting longー” Jiwon shut Mia up with a kiss. They stood there for a while before pulling away. 

“I'm doing this because I love you, Eunji. I'll wait in the station till you're done, alright?” 

“Well it'll take a while…but if you're gonna stay for that long, what are you gonna do to keep yourself busy?” 

“I'll uh, get to know your friends. If that's cool with you.” 

“Sure! They'll love you.” Mia giggled while Heejin couldn't shake off the thought of Jiwon being in the same place as her for the next few hours.

“I'll meet you there?” 

“Yeah. I'll see you.” 

With that Jiwon walked back to her car and drove to Haseul's station. Seeing her vehicle disappearing in the distance, Mia turns back around to her friends.

“Isn't she amazing?” She bragged while sustaining a bright smile.

“Y-yeah…she's something, alright. Anyways, I have a few tricks I can use, but maybe some helpful advice can work, too.” Heejin shooed off the topic about Mia's scary girlfriend before changing the subject. 

“Hmm…I'm not sure what Nako will say, but I'm confident some method will work on her. We can pry into her unknowingly. That should save us some trouble.” 

“Good. I'm so ready to crash on my bed after this.” Heejin's partner butted in. 

“It's gonna be a long day. Let's just help them with the suit, make sure Nako gets to the nurse and be prepared for our investigation. Then, we go home.” 

“Fiiine.” Hyunjin groaned before lazily following her partner to help with monster suit.

As the station continued their work, a hidden figure in a ponytail was spying and analyzing the site carefully at a safe distance within the white van. Looking through binoculars, the spy noticed the two famous prodigy detectives. Hyunjin was helping with the suit while Heejin directed some officers to investigate some the room that she, her partner, and Mia had stumbled upon. The Big Bird outfit was laying in the back of the van next to the mysterious spy, forgotten. The spy narrowed eyes at the two detectives, emotions containing nothing but hate and irritation. Putting on a mask, the spy quickly ditched the area, already brainstorming a new plan. 

After Hyunjin, with the help of some other officers, they were just about done when Heejin exited the apartment complex boxes full of papers and notebooks. Everyone began clearing out and headed back to their respective areas after the investigation. Haseul and the rest of the station were now leaving to meet at their stations.

“What's all this?” Hyunjin asked as she and Mia peered into the box Heejin was holding. 

“A lot. Something I found in that bedroom of the apartment we were in. They could be useful.” Heejin made her way to her car to store the box in her trunk before closing it. “Alright. Time to go back to the station! I'll drー”

“I’m driving.” Hyunjin declared, glaring at Heejin, who rolled her eyes.  
  
“No. _ I _ am.” Mia interjected before continuing “You two haven’t slept since two nights ago and are running on caffeine. I don’t trust either of you on the wheel so you’re going in the back seat.”

**Remade profiles!**

** **

After Mia fished Heejin's pockets for her car keys, the two detectives begrudgingly sat beside each other in the backseat. The exhaustion started to kick in, and soon after Mia started driving, they fell asleep.   
  
When Mia pulled up to the station, it was already dark and crowded as everyone else unloaded materials from their vehicles. Sooyoung and Vivi were carrying boxes after boxes into the station in order to investigate while the rest were baffled while trying to remove the monster suit from the tow truck since they couldn't figure out a way to lift the gigantic thing. Mia unlocked the trunk of Heejin's car and retrieved the box her friend had found in the apartment before setting it on the ground. She closed the trunk and picked up the heavy box again. Back in the car, Mia debated for a second whether or not to wake the detectives. Hyunjin sleepily muttered something about being cold before pulling a sleeping Heejin close, which made Mia stifle a giggle. She brought box inside alone, smiling nervously at the curious gazes of all those awake. So concentrated on keeping her eyes to the ground, she didn’t notice there was someone waiting for her.

“They’re sleeping in the car.” She announced softly, once she set the box down on Heejin’s desk after discovering her name on her desk. A wave of relief went through the station. She then spotted the blonde head in the waiting area, sleepily looking at her. When their eyes met, Jiwon offered a small smile and Mia grinned before walking towards her and hugging her.

Heejin had woken up when she heard the sound of the car door open, but was too tired to even lift her eyelids. Someone had mumbled something before pulling Heejin into their side. They were warm and smelled like bread so she didn’t mind. She wrapped her arms around them and rested her head in the crook of their neck, nearly falling asleep as soon as she did so, but then her eyes snapped open in realization.

She was cuddling her rival. Detective Kim, Asshole Kim. Borderline furry _ Kim! _

As if Hyunjin could read her mind, she spoke up, “Just sleep. I’m too tired to fight with you.” And for once, Heejin obeyed what Hyunjin said without objection.

The detectives were woken up by the flash of phone cameras and relentless knocking on the glass. Heejin groaned before burying her face in the crook of Hyunjin’s neck, not wanting to wake up just yet.

Wait.

Hyunjin’s neck.

Heejin yelped and scrambled off the other detective as quick as she could, but she knew the damage had already been seen when she spotted Yeojin in the window, wearing a shit eating grin with her phone in her hand. 

Heejin disgruntledly ran into the station, chasing after Yeojin to grab her phone and delete the horrid picture she had just taken her and Hyunjin cuddling together.

“JO YEOJIN!!!”

Yeojin was laughing hysterically while Heejin was on her tail, not stopping till she reached the younger girl. Haseul stood at the entrance bewildered. She had just opened the door, expecting her friends to come in peacefully. Instead, she was greeted with a wild goose chase. Haseul rolled her eyes before grabbing Yeojin and Heejin’s arm when they ran towards her. 

“Hey! We need to get to work, you two. No more messing around.” Haseul was too tired to continue to lecture them, so she could only hope they follow her orders. 

Heejin met up with Mia at the entrance, cheeks red from embarrassment. Yeojin showed her picture of the two detectives to Chaewon and Jiwoo as they began laughing and wooing at their friends. Before they realized it, Hyunjin was nowhere to be found.

An hour passed by quickly since Yeojin’s near death experience and Nako was finally awake. Heejin and Hyunjin shuffled awkwardly around eachother into the interrogation room, or well Heejin did, Hyunjin just gave her a weird look. Nako didn’t acknowledge the two detectives in any way, keeping her gaze on her folded hands on the table. She didn’t even flinch when the door loudly slammed shut as they took seats across from her.

“Hey.” Hyunjin said softly. Nako looked up slightly at her, only to glare. “I’m not speaking to you.” Nako grumbled, looking back down at her hands.

“You just did.” Heejin accused, a hint of smugness to her voice. Even though Hyunjin couldn’t see Nako’s face, she knew she rolled her eyes.

“Come on Nako, complying might lighten your punishment.” Hyunjin said.

“We’re doing this to help you.” The other detective add, hoping it’ll get some response. Nako gritted her teeth and clenched her teeth before letting out a frustrated sigh. Heejin lightly touched Hyunjin’s shoulder, making the younger girl look at her. They shared a look, and smirks. _ It’s working _ . Hyunjin turned back just in time to see Nako look up at her, her eyes unreadable. 

“I’ll speak if that idiot leaves.” Nako mumbled, shooting a pointed glare Heejin’s way. And then she quickly realized why Nako didn’t like her the most.

“W-was it about the rockー” 

“Yes.” With that, Heejin silent, but she had to stay. 

“I’m afraid that can’t happen.” Hyunjin spoke up, willing her voice to stay gentle. Nako sighed, and both detectives stared at her, holding their breaths in anticipation. 

“Fine. But she better stay quiet.” Nako grunted. Heejin raised her eyebrows at the remark while Hyunjin was biting her lip to hide her grin.

“Why did you attack us, Nako?”

“I was messing around.”

“You messed around enough to nearly kill my partner and friends.” Nako tensed up a bit at the retort from Hyunjin but nevertheless kept her composure. “Now why were you really ‘messing around’ for?”

Nako sighed. “I was protecting the buildings.”

“From what?”

“From you all.”

Nako began shaking a little. She didn’t think she was gonna make it out of here alive by the time this interrogation was over. Catching this behavior, Hyunjin and Heejin shared a look. They noticed how she was visibly…scared to say something. What could Nako be thinking right now?

“Nako.” Hyunjin called her name once again to grab her attention, this time leaning closer from across the table and holding onto Nako’s hand. “Whatever you think is going to happen to you, it won’t. Not on our watch. I promise you that you’ll be completely safe here, so if anyone lays a hand on you, they’ll be sorry. We really want to help you.”

“…fine.”

“Great. So tell me, what’s going on?” 

“I’m a-apart of this organization.”

“What kind of organization?” 

“It’s called….” Nako stopped again and averted her attention to the one sided mirror across from her and the two detectives. Outside the interrogation room stood Haseul, Sooyoung, Vivi, and Mia. 

“Why does she keep looking this way? Is my makeup smeared?” Curious, Sooyoung fishes out her pocket mirror and checks to see if there’s something.

“We’re in the middle of an important interrogation and you’re worried about your makeup???” Haseul gave the most wtf look at Sooyoung. 

“Hey! Just saying.”

“She can’t even see us through here, dumbass. Let’s hear what little Nako has to say.” Vivi stopped the small quarrel before turning her head back to room to observe more.

Mia, on the other hand, also wondered why Nako was constantly eyeing the window/mirror in her direction. The psychology major thought deeply about this behavior and the reason behind it. As she slowly came to a conclusion, she quickly shook her head at the idea. 

_ No. There’s no way. No one could possibly be like that, right? _

_ ……right? _

The more Mia spaced out as she continued thinking and processing, the heavier her heart became. She was distracted with all her thoughts that she didn’t hear Sooyoung calling her name until she was loud enough.

“Mia!” Sooyoung furrowed her eyebrows at the younger girl, breaking Mia out of her thoughts. She gave Sooyoung an odd expression. 

“Oh. Uh, sorry. I was thinking about something.”

“Are you alright? Do you wanna rest?” Sooyoung questioned, obviously worried about Mia.

“N-no, I’m fine. I’ll stay.”

“Ok. Tell me if you need anything, alright?” 

“Yeah. Will do.”

Vivi and Haseul behind the two, curious about Mia spacing out so suddenly. But they quickly averted their attention back to the interrogation when they saw Heejin standing up and walking out.

“Why’d you walk out??” Vivi questioned.

“Kim told me to. And plus, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Well then make it quick cause we’reー”

“I’ll go with you.” Mia unexpectedly interrupted Vivi before taking Heejin’s hand. “I really need to go to the bathroom, too.”

“Oh, alright. Remember, we’re almost leaving!” Haseul loudly informed the two friends before they made their way to the restroom.

Heejin had no idea why Mia was in such a hurry but she shrugged and let herself be dragged by her best friend. Once they were there, Mia picked the biggest stall and quickly locked the door behind them.

“Whoa Mia, what’s the rush?” 

“I’ve been thinking. A lot. Like, a LOT a lot.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Whenever you think a lot, it’s always something deep.” Heejin raises her eyebrows at Mia pacing back and forth. “Um, is everything ok? What are you thinking?”

Mia took a deep breath before speaking. “Ok. So. Call me crazy but….” She stepped closer Heejin and whispered into her ear to conceal her voice. “There might be a deeper meaning behind Nako sabotaging us.”

“Deeper how? Be more specific.” Heejin frowned at Mia’s incredibly vague statement.

“I-I don’t know. I just- I want to give this the benefit of the doubt but…there might be aー”

“Hey guys. Are you in here?” Sooyoung called from the bathroom entrance.

“Uh, yeah! What’s up?” Heejin responded.

“Haseul said we should close up after we’re done with Nako’s interrogation and Hyunjin’s is about to wrap up.”

“Oh ok. We’ll be out just a sec.”

“Alright, see ya. I’m heading home first.”

“Have a safe drive.” Heejin responded one last time before averting her attention back to Mia when she heard the door to the bathroom close. “Text me about this later, we should hurry and head out.”

“O-ok.” 

After Heejin finished using the restroom, they both entered the interrogation room again. Haseul was losing herself to sleep while Vivi still stood at the glass window, watching Nako and Hyunjin intently. 

“Anything happen while we were gone?” 

“No. Just questions and talk.” 

“Ugh, great.” Heejin groaned and slumped on her seat. 

“Sooyoung said they’re almost done so we’re not waiting long anyways.” Mia inquired as she sat down next Heejin and went into her deep thought again.

Back in the interrogation room, Hyunjin continued prying answers out of Nako to get some more valuable evidence as to why she used the giant monster suit to sabotage them.

“Let’s try this again, Nako. And I want you to be honest so we can get this over with. Why were you in the monster suit and attacking us?” 

“…I was ordered to.”

“Ordered? By whoー”

“Don’t. Please don’t.” Nako clasped onto Hyunjin’s hand as if begging her not to ask too much or something will happen. “If I say then they’ll hunt me down and kill me. I’ve already said enough.”

_ They? _Hyunjin thought to herself. “Nako. You’re safe and sound here. I promise, no will hurt yー”

“How would you know?”

“Because it’s my job to ensure your safety as an officer, whether you're a criminal or not.” 

“……Limbo.”

“What?” Hyunjin blinked at the sudden comment.

“Limbo. That’s the name of the organization I’m working for.”

“The.. the crawling under a pole game??”

“No. Like Purgatory. Middle ground. It’s the name of the mafia that controls Daegu.” Nako mumbled, her voice lowering to the point where Hyunjin had to lean in to hear.

“Who’s your boss?"

“…I uh….” She subconsciously looked around the room, incase she was being watched. Nako was aware of the other station members observing the interrogation, but she couldn’t but feel frightened and scared of the thought that someone will be out to get her if she revealed even the slightest information.

“Nako?” Hyunjin frowned at her odd behavior and placed her hand on Nako’s cheek to get her attention back.  
“I-I really don’t know. I never hear their real names.”

“Why’d you join Limbo?”

“……I-I joined with my friend. We were living in the worst parts of town, barely enough running water for one person and our jobs were miserable and low paying. We ran from home. And…Limbo gave us a new one.”

“Oh…I’m sorry to hear that.” The room was silent for a few moments as Hyunjin just held onto Nako’s hands, giving her small comfort in hopes to make her feel a little at ease. Then Hyunjin spoke up again.  
“How did you control the suit?"

“Joysticks and computer monitors from inside.”

“Who’s your friend?”

“I can’t answer that.” Nako quickly retorted back at the question.

Hyunjin merely sighed before nodding her head. Their interrogation has now ended. “Alright. Thank you for your time.” Hyunjin exited the room and made eye contact with Heejin and Mia, and they all nodded before walking out, leaving Nako alone as two police officers enter and take her away.


	7. Old Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter will include some fighting and a little bit of blood; basically violence.

As they made their way out of the station, Jiwon was already waiting there by her car, drowsingly nodding her head as she tried to fight her sleepiness. Mia giggled and hugged the older girl, surprising her awake. 

“Hey baby~ you’re finally done. They were closing up so I had to wait outside.”

“Aw, sorry to keep you hanging. Were you out here for long?”

“Nah. But, I’m so tired. Let’s go home?”

“I…as much as I want to, I still have some work to do. I’m sorry, Jiwonnie.”

“It’s alright! You should take care of your work. I know how much this means to you.”

“But  _ this _ feels more important…I love my job a lot, but I—“

“Shh, I said it’s ok, baby. I will wait for you at home ok?” Mia kept silent at the statement before sharing a passionate kiss with Jiwon.

She pulled away and muttered something with a grin before kissing her on the cheek. Jiwon exited out the station doors, not forgetting to death glare Heejin before fading from view and Heejin sighed in relief.

“See you later, honey.”

“Bye, babe.” Jiwon chuckled and started her car. Mia’s eyes trailed the vehicle till it was out of sight. Then she turned back to Heejin and Hyunjin, who looked awkward while witnessing the whole thing. Mia giggled at them.

“Are you two sure you aren’t dating? You’ve kissed like 20 times already.” This earned Hyunjin smacks on the head from both Heejin AND Mia. “Ow!! I’m just saying!”

“Don’t be petty because you don’t have someone to kiss.” Mia retorted and cutely pouted as she crossed her arms. Hearing this, Hyunjin turned her head and nervously eyed Heejin before turning away quickly and blushing. Being the psychology major, Mia obviously caught this and raised a brow.

Completely oblivious, Heejin called it a day for them at the station. Mia decided to sleep over at Heejin’s while Hyunjin went home as well. They both drove in the same direction as they lived in the same neighborhood. That was a mess of a story that none of their friends even knew where to start. 

Hyunjin parked her car in her garage, and then quickly brushed her teeth and flopped onto her bed, instantly falling asleep. Heejin and Mia, on the other hand, continued staying up to research all the past crimes that had previously took place throughout South Korea to see if they connect. Heejin stretched her back on the chair as she looked through the web, reading numerous articles about elaborate bank robberies and big fights breaking out in broad daylight on the street. Mia yawned for 10th time ever since the two began their excessive investigation. 

“Find anything new, Mia?”

“Ugh I wish I could say yes but not really. We don’t even have that much information on this ‘Limbo’ mafia thing.”

“You’re right.” Heejin sighed. “What’s the deal with all these bank robberies anyways? I get that they have a shit ton of money, but come on, get a damn job.” Mia giggled at Heejin’s complaint. She couldn’t blame her friend for thinking that way. Just when Mia was about to add on, Heejin suddenly sat up, causing her jump. “Wait!”

“What??”

“What if Limbo was behind all of these bank robberies?” The question made Mia gasp. “Maybe the reason why they were never caught was because they’re working in numbers. One group to distract the force, us, while the other will carry out the plan. And that plan is,” Heejin pointed to the a news article about a bank robbery on her laptop monitor, “this. Stealing all the money. But the questions are why. Why would they need all that money for? And why are they so desperate that they’ve committed over 50 robberies.”

“So…if a Limbo group splits up into two and their main cause is to rob the banks, then their distractions are the  _ fights breaking out!! _ ” Both Mia and Heejin cheerfully yelled that last line simultaneously. “Numerous headlines about random brawls happening on the streets were everywhere for months.” Heejin added as Mia nodded along, completely agreeing with the statement as she too had witnessed fights after fights on television.”

“Hold on. About the part where they never get caught. How exactly would they have escaped from our grasp all this time?” Mia inquired. “Assumably, they’re very skillful in what they do. Maybe they’ve covered their track before we could even get a chance to investigate anything?” She added on while Heejin nodded her head before another idea popped her in head.

“Wait a minute. On the latest case about a bank robbery I read about, it seems similar to the rest; all of them were barely looked into. Not a single investigation.” Heejin narrowed her eyes at her laptop monitor as she continued scrolling through the article. Mia was at her side reading along with her friend. Just as Heejin was about to close the article, she quickly stopped her. 

“Look here! ‘…case closed after only one day of investigation…’”

“No fucking way. How come we were never informed of this??” Heejin frowned, utterly confused since she would’ve called for a longer investigation into these cases. Then, she snapped her fingers when she remembered something. She looked at Mia, who curiously raised a brow, waiting for Heejin to say what she looked like she wanted to include. “I remember a similar bank robbery case,  _ I _ was investigating it!”

“You mean, you and Hyunjin were.” Mia said amusingly, earning an eye roll from Heejin. 

“Ugh, what _ ever _ . I did better anyways. She just butted into my business like a maniac!” 

“Alright, alright, just continue what you want to say before you start ranting about her 24/7 again.” Mia giggled before waiting for her friend to start elaborating again. 

“Ok so, while I- WE were investigating the sight, the case went on for a pretty long time.” Heejin faced her friend after finishing her statement. 

As Mia contemplated about this, and her mind found its way back to the interrogation room and how Nako was so nervous and scared of being killed for revealing something. She carefully let the scene play out through her head and what she exactly she had observed in the room. Then it clicked; Nako was constantly eyeing the window Mia had been analyzing from. 

“H-Heejin.”

“Hm?” 

“Um- remember when I was about to tell you something while we were in the bathroom?”

“Oh yeah! What were you gonna say?” Heejin questioned curiously as Mia quickly looked around to check if they’re area was safe. Well, this was Heejin’s room and the window was locked so Mia quickly went close to her friend’s ear to whisper. 

“There might be a mole in the station.” 

Then Heejin went dead silent. No, there was no way. She didn’t want to believe it. She trusted everyone in her station like they were her family. The possibility that one or more of them betraying her was absolutely heartbreaking. But then again, it all made sense. If there was definitely a mole in her station or anyone else’s, that would be reasons why the investigations for the bank robberies were shortened, or worse, likely fabricated into some plain lie for the media and public to believe. Heejin dropped onto her chair, still frozen from the thought of being betrayed. Mia, immediately regretting what she had said, was quick to comfort her best friend. 

“Heejin, Heejin, are you ok? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that to be shocking for you, I–“

“I-it’s ok, I’m fine, um…I’m just gonna, get some water….”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, I…I wanna be alone for a bit.”

“…alright.” Mia gave up and tightly hugged Heejin, hoping to offer her some comfort. She softly smiled when Heejin returned the embrace before letting go and exiting her bedroom to head to the kitchen.

Heejin drowsily trotted down the stairs and nearly tripped because she was so tired. Trying to get her act together, she quickly grabbed a water bottle from her fridge before she collapsed not so gracefully on her kitchen floor. Heejin drank half of the bottle and stood there, silently thinking about what Mia had said about a mole being present in her station. 

_ How could there be a mole? And who could it be…? I don’t believe it. _

She took a deep, anxious breath. Heejin felt this stressed her out way more than it should’ve because whoever this mole was, she was determined to find them out, but again, she didn’t want to believe that any of her close friends, whom she’d been working with for years, would trash all those times of friendship and sisterhood to betray her and everyone else. But as much as she hated this, it made sense as why there could be a mole. 

_ No. I have to get to the bottom of this before jumping to conclusions. _

She had to call Hyunjin and tell her about this urgently. However, she knew her partner was already fast asleep by now since it was close to 3am. Heejin leaned back on the kitchen counter while having deep thoughts about this new information. 

_ If the mole works for the mafia, then they must have connections. But that would depend on their status. So being able to fabricate the news and media…they must be working for the outlets. Who could have so much power for that? _

Heejin let out a groan and shook her head to get the thoughts out of her head for now. She needed to sleep soon and so did Mia. Sighing, she places her water bottle back in her fridge. She was so focused on what Mia had said that she failed to notice the figure in the shadows of her kitchen.

During which she closed her fridge, she finally noticed the silhouette of a person standing approximately 8 feet from her. She yelped and jumped back, almost stumbling to the floor. Squinting her eyes, she could tell the figure was possibly a few inches taller than her and had a ponytail, but she couldn’t see their face. 

“What the hell?! Who are you and how’d you get in my house??”

The enigmatic person just stood there, still giving Heejin the eerie silent treatment. The detective took a few steps back to create a safe distance from the intruder. However, they followed her steps and walked closer to her as she slowly retreated. Heejin refused to let this stranger know that she was afraid of their presence. But as the person stepped into the light of her table lamp in her living room, she almost passed out from fear when she saw the mask they were wearing.

  


“I-I’m an officer and a detective, ma’am. So you have 5 seconds to state your name before I–”

The detective was interrupted when the woman suddenly lurched forward and tightly wrapped her arm around Heejin’s neck, placing her in an unbearably painful choke hold. Heejin felt like the all the air was suddenly trapped in her throat and she was having a cardiac arrest. She couldn’t even call out for help or make any sound. 

“MIA!” She screamed, and then immediately regretted it when a surprisingly tiny hand clamped over her mouth.

Heejin tried her first attempt to escape by biting the stranger’s hand as hard as she could, to the point where she tasted blood, but her captor didn’t seem affected at all, which honestly scared her. 

But not wanting to die a cowardly death, Heejin musters up enough energy and jam her elbow into the woman’s stomach as hard as she could, knocking out all the air out of her lungs. Heejin staggered forward and fell to the floor, coughing and gagging for air as she clutched to her coffee table. 

The woman, however, quickly recovered from the detective’s attack and approached Heejin as she suffered on her own carpet floor. The stranger forcefully stomped on her back to prevent from getting up. Heejin loudly groaned from the attack before being pulled by her feet. Before she realized, the woman was dragging her out the door.

Heejin quickly escaped by retracting her foot that was being yanked and used it to kick her enemy’s face. When the woman released her foot, she quickly stood up and ran up the stairs. However, just like before, the odd stranger wasn’t fazed by Heejin’s attack and dashed after the detective, gripping the back of her shirt. Heejin had no idea why this woman was and why she was so fast to catch her, as she barely made 2 steps on the stairs before being forcefully tugged away and hauled back to the floor. 

“Ow, fuck….” She gripped her head after it bumped on the carpet floor due to her being tossed around like a rag doll. Before she could even process what she should do next, her collar was being pulled and she was on her feet again. In this position, she was finally able to see what the creepy mask really looked like.

It was very detailed. The razor sharp teeth was intimidating and Heejin couldn’t help but wonder if that mask could be operated. If so, the detective probably would’ve been brutally killed by now. The woman’s hair was tightly tied into a high ponytail. Heejin didn’t know how to react to this, but she had a lot of questions as to how an average looking person can put up such a fight with immense strength and speed. 

Afterwards, the detective pounded on the hands holding onto her collar and landed a punch on the person’s face before kicking the stomach. The woman merely staggered back and continued approaching Heejin. The detective was about to punch her again when her fist was firmly blocked with the woman’s palm. Growling, she grabbed both Heejin’s arms and hurled her onto the solid kitchen counter, knocking over some dishes and glass cups. Heejin cried out of pain before dropping onto the floor as she began feeling a metal taste in her mouth. Her blood was finally drawn. Then footsteps began audibly running down the stairs.

“Heejin?? What’s going on? Are you ok??” Heejin’s heart almost stopped, not from the excruciating pain she was feeling, but from the instant fear when she heard her friend’s voice. 

_ No, Mia! _

  
  


-

Back in Heejin’s room, Mia was extremely close to falling off her chair from sleep. She had been fighting it since 12am and she was unsure how long she could last. Her laptop’s screen somehow felt like it was getting brighter, even though she had turned it down to the limited amount. Letting out yet another weary sigh, Mia finally agreed with herself to plop onto Heejin’s bed and sleep, feeling that by the time her friend was done getting water and came back to her room, she’ll rest too. It’s been one hell of a long, but it has yet to end. After merely a few minutes, Mia was already dreaming. When she heard Heejin’s voice faintly echoing,  _ “What the hell?! Who are you and how’d you get in my house??” _ , she got confused as to why her best friend would say that to her. 

“What are you…talking about, Heejin-ah~? It’s me…your bestie….” Mia lazily answered in her dream, softly snoring on Heejin’s pillow. Then she heard commotions that sounded like some cat fight, according to her dream. “What’s all that noise, Heejin…? You should really…clean up your house….” Mia continued muttering nonsense until,

_ “MIA!” _

The sound of Heejin yelling her name and glasses breaking jolted her awake. Blinking her eyes to rid the weariness, Mia quickly scanned her surroundings, frantically trying to find Heejin. She immediately checked the time and found that it’s somehow been 30 minutes already.

_ What was that dream?? I have to check on Heejin! _

Mia grabbed her tranquilizer gun that had been sitting on her jacket before dashing out of the bedroom and down the stairs, then yelled her friend’s name.

“Heejin?? What’s going on? Are you ok??” She had no idea what was to come but all she cared about right now is Heejin’s safety. But what Mia didn’t expect was to see some stranger hovering over her friend’s weak body.

When the woman turned around and faced Mia with the horrifying mask, the psychology major’s heart dropped to her stomach. She nearly dropped her weapon upon seeing the mask, due to her hands unconsciously shaking from fear. Mia had no idea who the hell this person was but she was not going to tolerate whatever their intentions were at the moment.

“I’m gonna need you to surrender right now.” Mia glared at the mysterious figure in front of her, still pointing the gun at the woman. 

The enigmatic person, however, disobeyed and began approaching Mia. The other girl immediately stepped back and continued to threaten the intruder.

“Stop right there!! Do not come any closer,” Mia flicked a barrel with her thumb, clearly indicating that she just loaded a dart and will shoot, “or else.” 

But of course, the woman still continued to approach the younger girl, not at all fazed at her threats. Seeing this, Mia didn’t hesitate to pull the trigger, aiming a dart directly towards the woman’s face. Before shooting, Mia closed her eyes and waited for the sound of a body to collapse onto the floor. She waited. And waited. However, there was nothing. 

_ What the… _

Mia opened her eyes. To her horror, the woman had the dart between her thumb and index finger.  _ She expertly caught the dart. _ Mia’s mixed terrified and awe expression made the woman inwardly chuckle before advancing towards her again. Being frozen in her spot, Mia didn’t have time to process a hand tightly gripping her neck and being lifted up high from the ground. She tried to desperately kick the stranger in the stomach while using both her hands to set her neck free. She practically dangled while her vision became blurry. Mia knew she would be unconscious and defenseless if the woman didn’t let go of her soon. Just as she was slowly losing her consciousness, the hand choking her suddenly released it’s grasp. The last thing Mia dimly saw before passing out was Heejin’s fuzzy figure wrestling the attacker. 

“You’ll pay for laying your dirty hands on my best friend, bitch!!” Heejin forcefully pinned the woman’s hands to her sides with her knees and violently punched her face through the mask in a frensical manner. Heejin had no idea where the adrenaline came from but she was using this surge of energy to channel her anger on this evil stranger. 

Heejin was yelling out a war cry as she repeatedly slammed her fists onto the solid mask, losing her self control. The rough attack was so brutal that the mask began to crack. Feeling this, the woman flexed her leg towards the back of Heejin’s head, pushing her forward and off her. Her hysteric punching abruptly came to an end when her face landed onto her carpet. Groaning in pain, Heejin didn’t have time to look back when a sudden blow to her cheek nearly knocked her out cold. Crying out from the jab, Heejin placed her hand on her cheek as the ringing in her head was making her dizzy. The woman harshly grabbed onto her shirt collar and was ready to completely knock the detective unconscious, until a cranky person suddenly kicked the entrance open and barged into the house through the front door.

“IF YA’LL DON’T SHUT UP RIGHT NOW, I’M SETTING THIS PLACE ON FIRE!!!” Hyunjin, red in the face, cursed at the top of her lungs with angry, bulging eyes. 

  
  


—

  
  


Right next door to Heejin’s house, Hyunjin was snoring loudly on her bed. She was having a pleasant as her limbs were practically hanging over the edge of her bed. Hyunjin had been muttering incoherent words for the past 2 hours since she plopped on her bed. 

“Hmmm…such a—  _ (snort) _ cute kitten….” She sluggishly giggled before mumbling again. “Oh…back off, Nakyung…I wanna talk to that girl  _ (sniff) _ .” Hyunjin rolled over and faced closer to the wall.

“Shut up, Seoyeon~! I’m not  _ (snort) _ a gay panic….” Although her eyes were still closed, she furrowed her eyebrows in her dream, glaring at her friends laughing at her. “It won’t be so funny once I get a girlfriend before you assholes….” Still furrowing her brows, Hyunjin’s wobbly hand pointed a finger at the wall, as if tapping on one of her friend’s shoulders to further emphasize her argument. 

Then Hyunjin suddenly gasped when a girl appeared in front of her. She couldn’t make out of the girl’s face as she was standing in the distance. Her vision suddenly became blurry. “W-who…who are you? You must be pretty~” Hyunjin drowsily chuckled before moving her feet on her bed. In her dream, however, she was making her way towards the mysterious girl. 

As Hyunjin got closer towards, she didn’t get a chance to see the girl’s face when a hand was gently placed over her eyes. 

“Aw~ why can’t I see you~?” Hyunjin whined and pouted. Then her heart skipped a beat or two when she heard a husky chuckle from the girl. 

“Not so fast, Kim.” 

_ Wait a minute.  _ ** _Kim??_ **

Hyunjin couldn’t hide her shock as her mouth dropped open when the girl called her by her last name. And there was only one person that addresses her that way. 

“N-no way. You can’t be—”

“Shhh, stay quiet. For me.” 

Somehow being so obedient, Hyunjin went quiet immediately. She’d subconsciously already figured out who the girl was, but for some reason, she wasn’t complaining. Just when Hyunjin was about to start talking again, something soft pressed against her lips. She felt the girl’s hand leave her eyes, so when Hyunjin opened them, before her was Heejin, her arch-nemesis and unlikely partner,  _ kissing her _ . But despite what was occurring, Hyunjin just let it happen. Oddly enough, she didn’t mind it at all. Till she abruptly snapped out of her dream and sat up straight on her bed. Hyunjin remained still for a good minute, merely dazed from what just happened before grimacing from the dream and wiped her lips with her hand. 

“What a god awful dream….” Hyunjin sighed and dropping back onto her bed.  _ But was it really? _ Quickly shaking her head of the thought.

_ Yes it was! _

Hyunjin felt weird about herself for feeling this way as she draped her blanket over her head to try and sleep again. But just when she was snoring again, heavy commotions jolted her awake again. Frowning, Hyunjin’s head emerged from her blanket, eyes wordlessly skimming around her room. The noise was coming from nearby. She then realized it was Heejin, her damned next-door neighbor, when another scream sounded from her house.

Groaning out loud, Hyunjin fumed as she stomped down her stairs, with her plushy, bedroom slippers and her robe still on before exiting her house. After slamming her door, Hyunjin growled while marching towards Heejin’s door and and harshly busted the wood open. She could’ve swore she broke it but she wasn’t one to give a shit at the moment.

“IF YA’LL DON’T SHUT UP RIGHT NOW, I’M SETTING THIS PLACE ON FIRE!!!” Hyunjin announced the threat at the top of her lungs before heavily breathing as a brief silence ensued and everyone stopped their movements. 

It was that moment when Hyunjin finally bothered to scan Heejin’s house. Furniture displaced, broken pieces of dishes and glass on the floor, some blood on the carpet, Mia’s unconscious body near the stairs and lastly…Heejin slumping in the grasp of the intruder. Her left eye was forming a nasty bruise, cheek bright red, and blood coming from her nose and mouth. Heejin, on the other hand, would’ve laughed at Hyunjin’s fuzzy pajamas if the situation wasn’t so serious.

Hyunjin’s shock was cut short when the woman reached for a knife in pocket and flung it towards the detective. On instinct, Hyunjin yelped and dodged her head out of the way, but her hand swiftly caught the knife. 

“Whoa!! That was fucking clo—”

Hyunjin was interrupted mid-sentence when she felt a blow to her stomach that sent her flying from the steps of the entrance and landing onto the solid concrete. Keen from the rough landing, Hyunjin cursed out of pain while clutching her belly. Slowly standing up, she faced the person who had propelled her from the door. There stood the woman who still had her foot in the air before dropping it. Hyunjin didn’t miss the chance to send a menacing glare before interrogating the person.

“Who the fuck are you and what do you want??” 

The woman didn’t reply and instead began moving towards the young detective. Despite the horrifying mask, Hyunjin wasn’t afraid, rather enraged for not getting a proper response and she, too, advanced towards the enemy. Not letting the woman get the first move, Hyunjin suddenly charged at the woman and placed both her hands on her shoulders, pushing her back and into the house again. The invader fell back and slid across the floor, her head bumping on the first step of the stairs. Hyunjin then realized that both Heejin and Mia were missing. Just when she was about to call out their names, a hand slapped her across the face. She stumbled onto the soft, carpet ground between the cracked coffee table and couch. 

_ How the hell did this fucker get up so quickly?! _

Picking up her knife on the floor, the woman held it in her hand as she kicked Hyunjin’s side, leading her to recoil from the pain. The brutal attack mercilessly extended for minutes, to the point where Hyunjin felt like a rib or two might’ve been broken from the assault but she was too focused on using her arms to (barely) protect herself. 

When the onslaught of kicks stopped, Hyunjin opened her eyes and was just about to be ready to return the favor but that option went out the window when she momentarily caught a glimpse of her attacker hovering her knife above her. The woman plunged the sharp weapon downwards towards Hyunjin’s neck, but the detective didn’t give her the chance. Hyunjin swiftly blocked the killing move with both her hands, using her utmost strength to stop the knife from reaching any closer to her neck. However, there was no way Hyunjin could hold for long as she had gotten weak from the multitude of attacks earlier so Hyunjin’s arms were shaking with the last bits of the strength she had left in her as the knife etched closer. The woman had absolutely no intentions of stopping soon and Hyunjin groaned loudly when she forcefully pushed on her arms, causing the knife to graze the vulnerable layer of skin. 

“Ah—!” Hyunjin flinced when the pain began settling in as the dagger was too deep for comfort. Blood pooled out from the wound. 

Before the intruder can bury the knife any further, Heejin viciously swings a baseball bat over the woman’s head, knocking her out as her body collapses over the coffee table. Mia, now conscious and damped, quickly appeared besides Heejin, shyly hiding behind her after she was splash with ice cold water. 

Afterwards, their eyes fall on Hyunjin laying on the ground as she clutched onto her neck. Mia and Heejin immediately ran for the aid kit and grabbed it from her cabinet in the kitchen and returned to tend to Hyunjin’s wound. Thankfully, it was just a small cut. They deeply sighed in relief before applying alcohol and put a bandaid over the cut before helping Hyunjin up to her feet. 

“Oh my god…who the fuck is that??” The younger detective inquired while panting. 

“I don’t know, but we need to call Haseul.”

“How do you know she’s awake right now?” 

“Come on, this is Haseul we’re talking about, she’s either reading a book or studying Yeojin’s homework so she can help tutor at this time.” Mia answered.

“Alright, fine. I’ll watch freakhead here.” 

But when they both turned around to look at their attacker who was supposedly unconscious, her body wasn’t there. Before they could even process their shock, Heejin was suddenly punted from behind, causing her to crash into Mia and both of them dropped onto the floor while Hyunjin was shoved onto the glass coffee table and ended up shattering it to bits. She audibly grunted from the prickly fall, writhing from the agonizing sting as her neck ached. The woman began approaching Hyunjin’s weak body and grasped onto her shirt collar. Heejin desperately turned to Mia.

“Get your gun.  _ Now! _ ” She whispered the request and Mia was quick to sneak away and find her tranquilizer gun.

Heejin, on the other hand, frantically got to her feet and picked up her baseball bat before slamming the wooden stick onto the intruder’s back, but she barely flinched. Turning her head around, she released her grip on Hyunjin’s collar, dropping her back onto the piles of broken glass. When her attention was back on Heejin, the detective swung the bat again, but this time, the woman caught it and quickly used her knee to snap the wooden weapon in half, rendering it useless. In a fit of irritation and rage, Heejin tossed the remaining handle of her bat towards the woman’s face, but she, too, caught that and snapped it in half with her bare hands. 

“Jesus fucking christ.” Heejin cursed before being punched to the stomach out of the blue and getting thrown onto Hyunjin. 

As the detectives groaned on the ground, the woman walked up to them and hovered her foot over Heejin’s belly. Seeing this, Hyunjin quickly alerted her. 

“Watch out!!” 

Before they could be pummeled by the foot, Heejin quickly rolled to her right while Hyunjin went the opposite direction, successfully dodging the potentially fatal attack. Both detectives hastily stood up and rushed towards the woman, trying to wrestle her to the ground. However, it still wasn’t enough. 

“Anytime now, Mia!!” Heejin shouted before wrapping her arm the intruder’s neck to try and hold her in place while Hyunjin launched multiple jabs to the stomach. 

After minutes of dreadful patience, Mia finally emerged from the kitchen, her tranquilizer gun in hand. “I’m here!! Hold her still!” Mia commanded before aiming at the woman.

Upon seeing this, she didn’t dare allow them to defeat her anytime soon so she struck Heejin’s stomach with her elbow, setting her free before blocking a punch from Hyunjin, only to return the favor and decked her in the face with her fist. Afterwards, she immediately removed the dart from her shoulder and drew her attention to Mia. The other girl, now slightly shaking from fear, could recognize that the woman was practically glaring at her through the mask. Meanwhile, Heejin, still clutching her stomach, didn’t give the woman a chance of hurting her friend again so she lunged towards and wrapped around the enemy’s leg like a koala. Then Hyunjin quickly appeared and held the woman in a choke hold under her arm. But she had different plans and began retaliating by nailing Hyunjin’s arms with her hands and wiggling her leg to release herself from Heejin’s grasp. That was when the woman laid her eyes on Mia aiming her gun directly at her. Being witty enough, she squirmed around and spun the detectives along with her.

“I can’t aim!”

“We’re TRYING!!” Heejin set her foot on the ground in an attempt to hold the intruder in place.

“She’s still moving!!” Mia trotted in circles while continuously pointing her gun at the woman. 

“Goddammit!!” Hyunjin cursed again before making her choke hold tighter in hopes to prevent the woman from moving. When the detectives felt a sudden halt and a gag, they smirked, knowing they’ve finally stopped the woman from squirming. 

Seeing this opportunity, Mia fired three more darts on her shoulder and leg. The woman flinched for the first time as she began feeling dizzy and drowsy. Both Hyunjin and Heejin released their constraint before kicking and punching her simultaneously. She was able to counter their onslaught until they dragged forward only to bring her back and slam her to the ground. All of her movements halted altogether.

In between panting and heavily breathing, Hyunjin and Heejin waited for a moment to see if the intruder will unexpectedly wake again. But to their luck and utter relief, she remained unconscious. They finally subdued their attacker. 

“Alright. Time to see who this bitch really is.” Hyunjin proceeded to forcefully remove the creepy mask from the woman’s face. 

They all couldn’t believe their eyes. There was no way this familiar person, whom they’d just beaten up, would intend to try and kill them. But, there she was, laying on the ground out cold with bruises and cuts plastered all over her face. Heejin placed her hand over her mouth, speechless and purely appalled.

“No way….” Heejin whispered.

“From your police academy…? The one that disappeared?” Mia asked, taking a step closer.

“That’s her. Choi Yena.” Hyunjin mumbled.


	8. Hospital

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been months, we're really caught up with school and stuff :"3 but now we're back and I'm going to upload everything else! Hope you're prepared for the rest of the update ;)

Heejin laid on her hospital bed as she went through her phone. She felt a little relief after blocking Yeojin and Chaewon for mocking her, but decided she’ll unblock them later. Sighing, she set her phone down and put an arm over her eyes, only regretting it when she put pressure on her throbbing black eye. 

“Ah! Shit….” She cursed, letting out a frustrated sigh before carefully closing her eyes. 

On the bed directly next to hers, Hyunjin was playing a mobile game on her phone and audibly cussed whenever she lost a match. Not even having the courtesy to remain quiet for other people in the ward to rest. This continued on for another 10 minutes before a loud “dammit!” awoke Heejin from her short nap. Groaning, Heejin pulled the curtain aside and glared at her lousy partner.

“Can you pipe it down, Kim?? You’re not the only one here.”

“Shut up! Don’t interrupt me, I’m trying to beat this level.” Hyunjin retorted, unbothered by Heejin calling her out as she remained completely focused on her phone. Heejin narrowed her eyes in disbelief at the lack of consideration for some peaceful silence.

Skimming their area, the older detective looked for the plug to the wifi outlet in the room. After scanning the corners here and there, she was ready to give up looking for the wifi box, until she heard beeping above her. Upon discovering it, she smirked. Her eyes trailed down to the wire that was connected the box to the outlet. Heejin was surprised it was conveniently next to her so she cautiously rolled over on her bed and reached below to the wire before yanking it from the outlet. When a popup appeared on Hyunjin’s screen notifying her about the lack of wifi, her mouth hung open in shock. 

“No. No, I was so close, what the hell?!” Her eyes widened when her game stopped functioning. Heejin tried to contain her giggling but it wasn’t enough so Hyunjin slowly turned her head towards the other detective, glaring menacingly. “You did this, didn’t you?”

“Welp at least you’re quiet now, so I’m at peace.”

“Oh yeah?? Don’t get your hopes up, asshole!”

Before Heejin could even respond, Hyunjin hopped off her bed and straddled her evil partner as she grabbed her collar to repeatedly slam her head on the pillow. 

“Let go of me, you psychopath!!” Heejin insulted while holding onto Hyunjin’s wrists to pry her hands off as her neck. She was getting tired from the whiplash. 

“Then don’t. Mess. With. MY. GAME!!” Hyunjin shouted, tugging and pushing Heejin as she said the words.

“Hey hey hey what’s going on here???” Haseul rushed into the ward along with the rest of the station and the doctor. 

Sooyoung and Vivi removed Hyunjin’s hands from Heejin’s collar and carried her back to her bed. Mia appeared from behind Haseul with a worried but not surprised expression. Yeojin would’ve taken a video of the whole altercation but decided against it, remembering the last time she had pissed off Hyunijn. 

“She gave me freaking whiplash!” 

“The hell's whiplash?” Vivi inquired.

“What you just saw.”

Vivi looked at Sooyoung for a better answer, but the other merely shrugged. Haseul, however, sighed before rolling her eyes at their useless banter over a small thing before turning to the doctor.

“How long do you think their recovery might take, Jiho?”

“With most of their bones broken and numerous areas of inflammation, their time here might extend longer than expected. But, we’ll work on it.” Jiho checked her clipboard before confirming the information. 

“Alright…thanks for your help.” 

“No need to thank me.” Flustered, Jiho waved it off before continuing. “It is possible their wounds will heal faster IF they don’t try and murder each other.”

“O-oh, well, are there any rooms available so we can separate them?”

“Unfortunately, no. All the other rooms are occupied, which is why we had no other choice but to put them together here.”

“Ok. I’m trusting that you’ll take good care of them. And if they do anything stupid or remotely dangerous, call me right away.”

“Of course. I shall be heading out now.” Jiho chuckled before exiting the ward to attend to another patient. 

When the doctor disappeared, Haseul averted her attention back to the two rascals before her, glaring at them. Both Hyunjin and Heejin nervously returned a smile before slumping in their beds.

“I seriously can’t believe you two.”

“Believe me, Haseul, it really wasn’t my fault this time.

“Um, yes it was! I was peacefully playing games till this crackhead over here decided to be petty and turned off the wifi!”

“Well maybe if you kept your trap shut, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now!”

“Enough!! Fault or not, you both need to be aware of your actions and work with each other, not  _ against _ each other.” Everyone flinched at Haseul raising her voice so suddenly but soon enough, they all agreed with her. 

The two detectives looked at each other and then back to Haseul before apologizing for the trouble they had caused. Eventually, she forgave them but didn’t forget to give them a lecture. Meanwhile, everyone else wandered around the room and socialized amongst themselves. Yeojin, Jiwoo, and Chaewon played on their Nintendo Switch in the corner of the room, Mia seated next to Heejin, Haseul continued lecturing the two detectives, constantly having to tap Hyunjin for her to stay awake, and Sooyoung and Vivi sat by the TV to watch some cheesy rom-com drama. Back to Haseul’s lecture, the two detectives were close to falling asleep till their captain finally concluded. 

“From this day on, I want you both to be more professional when handling your emotions, alright? No more arguing or fighting over small things.” Haseul demanded with a stern face. 

“We’re sorry and we’ll live up to the best of our expectations.” Heejin stated with honesty. 

“Good. That’s what I want to hear.” Haseul accepted the apology before smiling like a proud mom and proceeding to hug both the young detectives. By the time she turned to hug Hyunjin, she realized that the younger girl was already asleep. “This kid….” Haseul sighed and chuckled, feeling the need to leave her be and rest. She needed it. They both needed it. 

“Hey Haseul. About Choi Yena, do you remember why she left the academy?” Heejin sat up from her pillow.

“To the best of my knowledge, I’m entirely unsure. I only remember how excited she’d always be whenever she entered class and trained with everyone else.”

“I do too…Kim and I were close with her actually, so I don’t know why she would attack us like that.” 

“My biggest question is how she was able to overpower you guys with so much strength. And speed.” Mia added to the conversation. 

“That’s right! She actually almost killed me if Kim didn’t arrive in time.”

“But then how is she so strong if you both trained at the academy longer than her?”

“I mean…it’s possible she was on steroids and did heavy weightlifting.” Heejin suggested, only for it to be denied quickly by Mia. 

“This is superhuman abilities we’re discussing here. Even with steroids, there’s no way Yena could’ve endured all those violent attacks and get back up like it was a mere brush of a feather. And most of all, her behavior was odd enough. You saw how unfazed she was. It took you two and 3 darts to knock her out.”

Mia was right. Heejin had flashbacks to when she clamped her teeth down onto Yena’s hand and drew blood, but the other girl didn’t let out a painful cry or anything. It still sent chills down her spine the more she thought about the memory. 

“Then…what exactly was Yena on?” Haseul furrowed her eyebrows as the confusion settled in.

“I don’t know…but I just hope she’s ok now. It’s been years since I last talked to her.”  Just then, Jiho hastily reentered the ward, all eyes now on her. A worried expression on her face was visible. 

“You guys might want to see this.”

“Did something happen?” Haseul shared the same worried look, but Jiho quickly assured her. 

“Not entirely, but it’s something really weird.”

“Ok ok um, can I bring these two and the other captains?”

“Sure. Yena is awake now.”  Upon hearing this, Hyunjin immediately sprang from bed, eyes wide. Heejin, including everyone in the ward eyed her in utter surprise. 

“Were you even asleep??” Heejin questioned. 

“Yes and no, but that’s not the point! I’m talking to her now, lead the way, doctor.”

“Hold your horses. It wouldn’t best for you to go alone. The guards will be outside as you talk to her.”

“Ugh come on! Can’t I be solo this once??”

“Hyunjin.” Haseul raised an eyebrow, as if telling her to comply with orders, or else.

“O-on second thought, why not?” Hyunjin chuckled nervously before dragging her IV stand. “Let us see her.” 

Hyunjin said determinedly, although her hand hovered over Heejin’s shakily. Heejin let out a deep breath before sitting up, sneakily interlocking her hand with Hyunjin’s for a brief second before letting go. She appreciated the support but no way in hell is she going to let anyone see her holdings hands with her rival. Once they were outside, Jiho turned to the group, eyes scanning them before falling onto Yeojin. 

“I hope you don’t mind the inconvenience, but she has to stay before we continue on from here.”

“Me??” Yeojin frowned and pointed to herself, feeling offended. Jiho nodded her head, which made the small girl gasp dramatically. “Oh come on! I’m apart of this shit!”

“Language, Yeojin!” Haseul scolded. 

“My apologies again but the rules are something I must abide to. Everyone 18 and older are able to visit patients. Well, in this case, a criminal but you know what I mean.”

“Jiwoo, Chaewon, can you guys stay here with Yeojin?” Haseul looked towards the two.

“Sure!” They both agreed.

“Why do I need babysitting?? What the fuck!”

“Yeojin!”

“Guys, come on, not now.”  Vivi tugged on Haseul’s arm, leading her away from Yeojin before they got into an argument like Hyunjin and Heejin. 

While Jiwoo, Chaewon and Yeojin stayed behind, everyone else continued making their way to Yena’s ward, which oddly took lots of stairs to get to. The lower they went, the more…modern and rather futuristic the hallways became, almost like a sci-fi movie. It was strange, the group has never seen a hospital like this one before. They weren't even sure if they were  _ in  _ a hospital anymore. Why was the setting more bizarre than the ones just stairs above from here?

Hyunjin and Heejin walked closely behind Jiho, quite ready to question the current area they were in, but the doctor beat them to it. 

“You guys must be wondering what this is. I promise I’ll explain everything once we reach our destination, then it’ll all make sense.”

The odd surrounding was astonishing in a good way. Nurses and doctors crowded the halls, rooms, etc. as they examined boards in groups and hover around tables as a senior lectures them. It was like a museum and a laboratory combined. There were even lists of chemicals plastered on display in the wall they were passing through, with names that they couldn’t even read or pronounce. When they finally reached Yena’s door, Jiho stopped them. Once they arrived, they could see through the window. Yena was just sitting there, fiddling with her fingers while she looked around her room, visibly scared to be in there. There were two police officers guarding the door.

“How is she, Dr.Kim?” Hyunjin questioned before averting her attention towards Jiho with a worried expression. 

“She’s fine, actually. However, we’re not entirely sure. Her conditions were extremely…I don’t know how to put it, but it’s something very abnormal.” If this situation was able to confuse an intelligent, high ranking doctor like Jiho, it must’ve been more serious than they expected. “And since this whole area is kinda ‘top secret’, I’m only allowed to bring in 3 people. Who would like to come inside?”

“Oh um, Hyunjin, Heejin, you guys should go in.” Haseul immediately looked towards them since they were close with Yena. “And Mia? If you want.”

"I-I don't know about that…." Mia cowered behind Haseul.

"Why? Are you scaredー"

"Yes." This made the captain chuckle.

"Mia, it's fine." Heejin held both her friend's hands to calm her. "Yena's harmless in there." 

"I guess…but what if sheー"

"She won't do anything, if that's what you're concerned about." Jiho interrupted Mia's worries. "Yena is completely stable now, so she can't hurt anyone, even if she wanted to." 

"Oh, awesome! Let's go inside." Hyunjin had a hint of impatience.

Jiho waved the officers aside before unlocking the door and stepping inside. Hyunjin and Mia gulped before following but Heejin and Haseul showed no visible signs of distress besides clenched fists. 

If Yena was affected in any way by seeing her old classmates, she hid it well. She stared emotionlessly at her old classmates. Hyunjin let out a shaky breath. Yena mostly looked the same as she did years ago, except for the fact that her childish mischief filled eyes were gone, replaced by the eyes of someone who would never get rid of their ghosts.

Yena didn't bother acknowledging the visitors and continued fiddling with her hands. The trio sat near her bed, though Mia sat slightly behind Heejin. Jiho examined Yena's heart monitor on the computer screen attached to the bed. She narrowed her eyes at the pulse line that was barely beating. Yena's breathing was as normal as a human's, therefore her heart rate should too, but the monitor says otherwise. Jiho jot down her observation writing, 'breathing and heart rate unmatched.' 

"I shall leave you three here to discuss whatever matters you have with her. In the meantime, if you need anything, contact me through that read button over there. It'll transmit the signal to the room I'm heading to."

"Thank you, doctor."

Jiho nodded before exiting the ward and sealing the door behind her. Outside, Haseul, Sooyoung, and Vivi eagerly waited for the next news Jiho had to offer.

"Please follow me this way." 

They didn't object and complied respectfully as they accompanied the doctor to an examination room where Yena had been. Jiho had them seated in chairs before looking through the cabinet to find Yena's newly made file. She opened the cover and took out a page full of results from their examination.

"This was what we found during Yena's time here."

Haseul took the paper from Jiho's hands as Sooyoung and Vivi leaned in to take a look. It was only after the first sentence when their eyes widened in shock and confusion. Yena hadn't eaten in weeks before her intrusion in Heejin's house. Despite her malnutrition, her body muscles were still strong, unknown metabolism, heavy brain activity, sudden surge of adrenaline that spiked the chart from 1 to 100, and a dozen more health problems that follow. 

"This is…Yena?" Haseul frowned while still eyeing the paper, in disbelief that a once innocent girl she knew would become like this. "H-how is this all possible?"

"I've been asking the same question since she was admitted here. As far as I'm concerned, something was injected into her, which is why these odd symptoms do not correlate with each other."

"Injected?? With what?" Sooyoung chimed in. 

"This." Jiho held up a small glass container between her index finger and thumb to display it for the captains to see. 

The glass tube contained a rich, transparent blue liquid that was sizzling bubbles like it was boiling, but it didn't seem hot for Jiho since she was holding it without gloves on. The bottle was oddly sealed as well. It’s “cap” had a glittery black color and some sort of technological lock that looked like it required some code, followed by a weird, small red light that flickers every 2 seconds. 

"We were able to extract all of this from her bloodstream and found numerous upon numerous stimulants compacted into this small amount." 

"Wait. You're saying all of  _ that _ was able to give her these symptoms?" Haseul eyes widened again.

"Frankly so. I'm just as bewildered as you guys are. I've never seen anything like it."

"Did you test that out yet?" Vivi narrowed her eyes at the tiny bottle. 

"After some close examinations and some test runs on a couple of brain cells, they became completely motionless and turned blue." 

"What does that mean?" The younger captain of the three also narrowed her eyes.

"Yena was in a blank state of mind control. Someone or something was commanding her to commit the violence in Heejin's house. Therefore, I can conclude that was why she was unresponsive to all the pain, until she was eventually knocked out cold. However, together with this, the attacks riddled on her and the tranquilizer solution, they should've been enough to kill her." 

"Oh my god…." Haseul almost whispered as put her hand over her mouth. "Then the treatmentー"

"Yeah…um, just extracting this from her was nearly a fatal cause too." Jiho held the small tube with her hands as she looked down at it, not forgetting how she and other doctors didn't give up and desperately took hours just to get a pulse from Yena. 

Haseul felt horrible because the young girl was practically a little kid at heart when they met in the academy. Knowing she had been in this state during the incident in Heejin's house, Haseul couldn't imagine what Yena might've went through beforehand. Haseul didn't want this to go on any longer. Yena had almost died twice in such a short period of time.

"We have to look into this now. I don't want her to go through anymore pain." 

"Then we should start by looking into files and history, maybe that’ll give us some clues.” Sooyoung suggested, just as worried as Haseul. 

“You’re right. Jiho, is it alright if we borrow Yena’s file and take it back to our station?”

“Of course. But I’m gonna need it back in a month because, rules.” 

Jiho emphasized briefly, hoping they’ll get the idea. With that being said, all three captains exited the room and walked back up the flight of stairs to meet Jiwoo, Chaewon, and Yeojin. By the time they reached the ward where Hyunjin and Heejin had been staying in, the kids were still playing on Yeojin’s Nintendo Switch and being rowdy about Mario Kart.

“YES! I won another round!”

“No fair, Yeojin! You’re always hitting me with the red shell when I’m literally not even doing anything.” Chaewon crossed her arms and cutely pouted. 

“It’s ok, Wonnie. I’ll get you some macarons later!” Jiwoo enthusiastically offered. 

“Assaaaaa! Thank you, unnie!”

“Omg, can I have some, too?” Yeojin’s eyes wide in excitement as Jiwoo stood up and left to go to the bakery next to the hospital. 

“No.” She replied deadpanned after looking over her shoulder. Yeojin and Chaewon were taken aback by the sudden hostility but then Jiwoo suddenly laughed before saying, “just kidding! I’ll be back in a jiffy.” She waved before walking out the door and was met with Haseul, Vivi, and Sooyoung. “Oh! Hey guys! I’m heading out to bakery right across the street, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. Make it quick because we’re leaving soon.” Vivi informed Jiwoo but the younger girl waved it off. 

“I can meet up with you guys back in the station. See ya!” With that, Jiwoo disappeared out the door. Haseul rounded everyone up and made sure to Heejin know that they were going to leave first through text. After a minute, Heejin responded with a thumbs up emoji.

"Haseul and everyone else had to leave early, just an fyi." The other two nodded before returning their attention back to Yena. 

"Yena…please tell us what happened." Hyunjin's worried expression never left her face.

The other girl continued giving the silent treatment, nervously fiddling with her finger as she contemplated what to say. Yena didn't even know where to start. Heejin reached forward to place her hand on Yena's hand, but once they touched, the older girl yelped and flinched in a violent manner before immediately retracting her hand from the contact, visibly shaking in fear as she held her hands to her chest. Both Hyunjin and Heejin tried to calm her down while Mia instinctively backed away. 

"Yena! Yena, it's ok!" Hyunjin got up to her feet, placing her palm onto the metal rail of Yena's hospital bed. "You're alright, it's ok."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that." After a few minutes, the two detective sat down on their chairs again. 

Yena took a shaky deep breath and fiddled with her bandaged hand, the one that had been bitten by Heejin, for the last time before finally taking a moment to decide. 

“Yena...” Heejin said softly. Hyunjin found herself tearing up and quickly blinked away the tears, or tried to. Yena’s eyes snapped to the lone tear trailing down Hyunjin’s cheek and something changed in her expression. Her composure softened and she left out a weary sigh.

“Sorry for trying to kill you.” Yena said with a strained lopsided smile. 

“Sorry for almost killing you.” Hyunjin replied, her voice cracking. Heejin would’ve laughed if the situation wasn’t like this.

“So um…why’d you leave the academy? Or why’d you disappear?” Heejin asked.

Yena thought about the memories she had in the academy and how dear they are to her. She missed it. She missed everyone. But Yena had to leave so soon out of her will and taken into the mafia without truly knowing what was going to happen to her and Nako. Now here she was, paying the price. 

"…I was forced to leave the academy early. Short on money." Upon hearing Yena finally speak, everyone listened intently. "As much as I wanted to stay, I didn’t have any other choices. Mom and dad, they…they never supported my dreams of being a police officer. Said it was stupid and dangerous." She took another deep breath before continuing. "I was forced to work in places that merely paid me dust. I couldn't apply for better working places because I didn't graduate high school. U-um…every time I came back with little money, although my sweat and tears went into obtaining it, it barely scratched the amount that my family owed. It was stressful in the house back then…because of me. I don’t blame my parents for snapping at me, even if those awful words stuck." Heejin almost teared up and really wanted to place her hand on Yena's again, but likewise, she was hesitant. Hyunjin and Mia felt the same, both couldn't help but feel emotional. 

“My family couldn’t afford it anymore. They were borrowing money from some loan sharks to pay for it and they couldn’t meet the deadline so when I came home, they weren’t there anymore.” Yena started, and her gaze lowering her hands before she continued.

"They left no traces…and I wasn’t stupid enough to stay and let the loan sharks get me. Then I…I ran away from home." Heejin was unable to resist any longer and held Yena's hand, forgetting about the fact that the other girl might flinch again. But to her surprise, Yena reciprocated the contact and held Heejin's hand as well. "I kept walking on the streets for a few days until I bumped into Nako, my childhood friend."

"Nako? What was she doing?" Hyunjin furrowed her eyebrows.

"She told me she…had run away from home too." 

"Oh…you can continue." 

"We walked aimlessly on the streets together for a while. Till we were approached by this person…." Yena hesitatingly revealed. 

Everyone was practically leaning in now, all eyes were on her. She was aware of this, but didn't really mind. Then Yena continued talking.

"What person, Yena?" Heejin gently asked.

"U-um, I don't quite remember…she told us that she needed us for something important?" Mia and the two detectives all looked at each other confused. Who was this woman that Yena spoke of and why would she approach her and Nako out of nowhere?

"Who was this woman?" Hyunjin narrowed eyes. 

"She was, um……." Yena was about to reveal more details but suddenly hesitated, just like Nako during her interrogation. And just like before, Mia caught this. 

But still being scared of Yena, she gently nudged Heejin's hips with her knee in a nervous manner, catching the detective's attention. Mia gave her a look, and that alone told her everything. Heejin only then realized how familiar this situation was. 

"Yena." The said girl looked at Heejin curiously. "I know what you're thinking. We promise that you're safe and sound with us. No one will hurt you, I swear. So whatever you want to say, you can tell us anything and we'll listen, ok?" 

Hyunjin frowned a bit before quickly understanding what was happening. "Yeah. And if anyone tries to hurt you, we'll be there."

Yena was taken aback by the sudden sentimental response, but was nonetheless relieved and grateful for the reassurance. They were just the same, nice people she'd hung out with those years back. 

"U-um so, she was blonde. And she asked us if we were looking for a new place to call home. Then she said she knew our names, whereabouts and how our circumstances were basically crap. I didn't know what to say after that but Nako and I quickly agreed, until the lady told us she was apart of this mafia called Limbo. I wanted to walk away right then and there but Nako convinced me to join with her…." 

"How did she convince you?" Hyunjin questioned.

"She told me that this was our 'once in a lifetime opportunity' that I was throwing away and…we were basically left on the streets if we didn't take our chance to finally have wealthy and happy lives…." 

Everyone fell silent again and the two detectives couldn't bring themselves to ask another question. This wasn't the kind of interrogation they had been hoping, but it was somewhat expected anyway. Yena's breathing got shakier the more she tried to suppress her tears and emotions. She didn't know how long she can last without crying and just breaking down. Noticing this, Heejin gently rubbed her thumb on the back of Yena’s hand in hopes to lower her nerves. She took a slow, deep breath and cleared her throat. 

“The last thing I ever wanted to do was turn to the mafia for help, but…the lady, she…she was just so  _ convincing _ . I-I don’t know how to explain it. She offered so much.”

“What exactly did she offer?” Hyunjin furrowed her eyebrows. Yena’s explanations were becoming more mysterious as she continued on. 

“Like…all the things Nako and I enjoy. And need. For example, video games, food, clothes, concert tickets, shelter, and just, fun. A place we’d be able to call home. But…all on one condition…” The dreadful cliff hanger made the trio sit at the edge of their seats. “…we had to be apart of this experiment….”

“Experiment??” Heejin frowned immediately after. 

“I-I know, we were dumb and just went with it…” Yena felt ashamed of herself. Obviously, she and Nako should’ve just turned down the woman’s tempting offer right then and there before agreeing to the ominous deal. Yena only realized now how much she regretted every decision she made, all for video games and  _ fun _ . “…I should’ve known better. The woman only chose me to be apart of it because Nako wasn’t strong enough. They made Nako build this monster suit to distract you guys. I never knew why, so I can’t really go into detail about that…”

“It’s fine, just uh, continue on.” Heejin softly patted Yena’s back while gulping at the memory of her and her friends dealing with the horrifying looking creature.

“The mafia people tied me to a chair and examined me. Then they said I was able to be apart of the experiment. I was forbidden to eat anything for a while 'because it will interfere with results‘…. This giant bird suit was sent to my apartment. It had a note that told me to use it and distract the cops. I didn’t know they meant you two all along…. Then one day, the blonde woman called me into this room and said I’m ready. So, I sat there for about half an hour till they came in with this syringe that had some blue liquid inside.” This statement made the trio share a look. They were now starting to piece everything together. “I um…I-I don’t remember anything else after that…my head felt really fuzzy after they injected the stuff into my arm, but that’s just about it. When I woke up, I was on this hospital bed.”

“Wait. When did they do this, Yena?” Heejin questioned out of curiosity. 

“Um…a month ago?” 

“Oh my god….” Hyunjin gasped, as well as Heejin and Mia. Whatever this “blue liquid” Yena spoke of must’ve been the reason why she was so blatantly strong and fast when she fought the two detectives. “Yena….”

“……I’m sorry…I didn’t mean for this to happen and that I’d be a burden…I didn’t mean to attack you guys in the house. I-I didn’t mean to hurt you….” She sniffed as tears finally roll down from her glossy eyes.

Both the trio in the room didn’t hesitate to give Yena a warm group hug. If only Heejin and Hyunjin knew about this, they were damn sure an intervention would’ve taken place long before this mess happened. Now all they could do was feel sympathy towards their friend. And for once, the two detectives agree on one thing for once. 

“Yena,” Hyunjin reluctantly pulled away from Yena, followed by Heejin and Mia, before placing her hand on her arm, “It’s not your fault, you don’t have to feel sorry for  _ anything _ . I promise we’ll get to the bottom of this and do our best to help you and Nako. And uh, you both will have to stay in an isolated prison, but they will provide you with lots of care. I will make sure of it, alright?” 

“No one will hurt you anymore, sweetie.” Heejin hugged Yena again, and this time, the embrace was reciprocated as the older girl finally broke down in tears, quietly sobbing in the detective’s shoulder. Heejin wrapped her arms around Yena’s neck while softly patting her head. 

Just then, Hyunjin’s phone blared a melodious ringtone, which alerted her that Haseul was calling. She quickly fished out her phone from her pocket and pressed the answer button. 

“Hello?”

_ “Hyunjin! You and Heejin have a new case. The headquarters just sent me a file, said something about a member of the football team passing out during practice. Apparently, they found that he had some ‘odd eye color’. You guys might wanna check it out.” _

_ “YO! It’s at my school too, by the way! Isn’t that crazy??”  _

Hyunjin had to put her phone at some distance from ear to prevent herself from going deaf. Yeojin just gets louder day by day. Even Heejin and Mia heard her yelling from Hyunjin’s phone, despite it not being on speaker. 

“Can you quiet down?? We’re having an emotional crisis here!” Hyunjin harshly whispered into the call. She could hear Haseul scolding Yeojin and taking the phone away from her. 

_ “Christ, sorry about that. Anyways, the file will be on your desk once you get back from the hospital. This is also kinda urgent because it just happened, so hurry.” _

“Got it. We’ll be there soon.” With that, Hyunjin quickly hung up the call and turned to Heejin. “Jeon.”

“Yeah, I know.” She was reluctant to pull from her embrace with Yena, but did so anyway. “Hey. You’re gonna be fine, ok? If you need anything, please tell us, Yena.”

The other girl sniffed and wiped her tears before giving a small nod in response. Mia opted to stay with Yena for the next while in order to give her some free therapy, feeling she deserves it after all the crap she’d been. 

“I’ll stay here with her, you two should hurry.”

“Won’t you be a bit lonely?” Heejin asked curiously. 

“Of course not! I have Yena here. And just maybe, I’ll call Jiwon.” Mia shyly replied.

“Alright, you goofball.” The best friends hugged each other before the two detectives exit Yena’s ward. Afterwards, Mia turned her attention back to the hospital girl, who already had her head on the pillow. 

“Guess it’s just going to be us two for a while, huh?” Mia pondered.

“Well…why are you staying?” 

“Because I’m a psychology major. Think of me as a friend who serves as your therapist. For free!” This made Yena smile for the first time since Mia’s been in her ward.

“That’s nice of you…thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Mia smiled and held Yena’s hand. 

“So um…were you there when I, you know, apparently almost killed Hyunjin and Heejin?”

“Oh yeah, yes I was.”

“D-did I…hurt you?” Yena cautiously questioned

“Not exactly hurt, but uh, I passed out. I’ll give you that.” Mia deadpanned, not wanting to go into detail of the horrible experience. “But it’s ok! You didn’t seem like you were in your right mind, so technically, I don’t blame you.”

“Oh o-ok.”

As their conversation went on, it became sillier the longer they socialized in between Mia’s therapy session with Yena. The psychology major never thought she’d be friends with her, but she was glad it turned out that way.


	9. School Case

When Hyunjin and Heejin arrived back in their ward, they were relieved Jiho was already there, checking up with another patient on their bed. Not wanting to waste anymore time, they both quickly walked up to the head doctor. 

"Dr. Kim!" Hyunjin called out.

"Oh! There you two are! Where have you been?? I've been looking for you when I didn't see you in Yena's ward." 

"We have um, a bit of an emergency." Heejin clarified why she and Hyunjin were missing as Jiho arched an eyebrow at them.

"What kind of an emergency?" 

"'We have a new case and we need to leave now' kind of emergency." The younger detective subtly explained without being subtle. 

"Oh, well uh, you see, I understand you're both detectives and all, but that doesn't excuse your discharges." 

"Aw come on, please, Dr.Kim?" Hyunjin almost begged but she would rather do that than wait hours to recover on her hospital bed. With absolutely no wifi. 

"Yeah. Can't we just take painkillers and be done with?" 

"Painkillers aren't enough, especially with all those wounds, first of all. And second, by the rules of this hospital, none of our patients are allowed to leave _ until _ they've fully recovered." Jiho was very law-abiding, the two detectives realized. 

They could only hope she wasn't like this in tough situations where the law wasn't exactly as just as she believed so. But nonetheless, Hyunjin and Heejin had to leave now. Then, they both shared a look, as if using telepathy and exchanging mental thoughts to each other. The only way out of this would have to be the hard way.

"Please please please please please please please please!" The duo decided to be annoying brats to get what they wanted. And boy, was it starting to annoy the heck out of Jiho.

"U-uh guys, seriouslyー" 

"Please please please please please please please please please please please please!!" They only got louder at the doctor's protest. 

"_ NO!! _" Jiho glared as she shouted back with a sudden increase in volume that made everything and everyone stop in the room. There was a brief silence until Heejin unexpectedly continued their banter of protests.

“JIHOOOOO”

“JIHO PLEASE”

“JIHOOOOOOOOOO”

“AEONG!!"

Jiho's eyes widened in shock, in utter disbelief that she was actually dealing with children. And she's finally had enough. Opening a cabinet, she grabbed her secret weapon: **the spray bottle**. Without any hesitation, Jiho fired away at the annoying duo, using up nearly half of the bottle on the whiny detectives. They instantly recoiled as the water hit them while yelping. Well, mostly Heejin since Hyunjin hissed and immediately ducked behind her partner and used her fragile body to protect herself from the spray, making her take most of the attack.

After Jiho ceased her small attack on the duo, she let out a sigh of frustration. Heejin removed her hands from her face and turned around to glare at Hyunjin.

“I can’t believe I’m dealing with actual children….” Jiho sighed again and set her spray bottle on the counter next to her. 

“So……can we leave early?” Hyunjin questioned, hopefully getting the answer that she wanted. 

“If it prevents you two from disturbing patients resting, might as well.” The doctor sighed for the last time and eventually gave in. “But next time will not be the charm. I take recovering periods very seriously, you know.” She clarified with such pride that the two detectives were awestruck with admiration. However, they couldn’t relish in it: their time was running out. 

“Dr. Kim, if it eases you, we’ll be back to check up with you after our mission.” Heejin offered. 

“Well…I guess that’s better than nothing. You both are free to go.” 

“Yes!!” Hyunjin pumped two fists into the air, only to immediately regret it after one of her shoulders made a loud crack. “OW!” She clutched her shoulder and strained herself from screaming. 

“Oooh, that was a nasty crack.” Jiho and Heejin winced from the audible sound as the doctor approached the younger detective and examined her shoulder. “It seems like you just dislocated the portion of the acromion and the clavicle….” Jiho sounded like she was speaking in a foreign language, but she seemed to know what she was talking about. A nurse frantically approached the scene. 

“Dr. Kim? A dislocation like that might need an x-ray examination—“

“No need. I’ve got this.” Jiho interrupted the nurse before trailing her hands up to the dislocation of Hyunjin’s shoulder. The rest of the hospital people, including Heejin, watched intently. 

Jiho placed her fingers carefully, as if looking for a way to solve this issue. One of her eyebrows perked up suddenly. Then she held Hyunjin’s arm, clasping her right hand together with the younger girl’s while her other hand balanced her elbow to straighten it out. Afterwards, Jiho interlocked her fingers with Hyunjin’s and forcefully pushed her shoulder in, successfully locking her shoulder back in place. But, that came with a cost; Jiho forgot to warn Hyunjin of the pain and the detective ended up screaming at the top of her lungs.

“I am not discharging you two just yet. Your shoulder would need some examinations that can last for at least 2 hours before you can leave. This hospital has a strict policy of discharging patients after a checkup.”

“But Jiho….” Hyunjin pouted.

"We don't have 2 hours to spare."

“Well then.. Theoretically, if you cause a disturbance and don’t stop, we have to kick you out.” Jiho mumbled, before turning around to the shelf and continuing, “So do what you usually do and fight each other if you want to leave that badly.”

Heejin and Hyunjin turned to face each other and shared a look. Hyunjin opened her mouth, but nothing came out when a fist slugged her.

  
  


______

  
  


Hyunjin and Heejin were finally making their way out of the hospital after the nurses double checked bandages and replaced them before having the pharmacy prescribe them painkillers and special ice packs that they, unfortunately, had to use each hour because their numerous injuries. Heejin massaged her temples as the ringing sound was still inside her head while Hyunjin gently massaged her shoulder before placing her hand her cheek, flinching at small bruise. And a bonus, her throat was starting to feel sore. 

“I can’t believe you PUNCHED me!”

“Well it worked didn’t it?” 

“It was very embarrassing, Jeon. Five different nurses fussed over me.” Hyunjin grumbled. 

“Oh shut up at least they didn’t look at you like you killed someone.” 

“Your punch threw me to the floor.” Deadpanned Hyunjin. 

“I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.” Heejin explained herself before requesting a taxi that was already conveniently parked on the sidewalk. 

The drive back to the station remained silent as the two sat in the back together, not bothering to give each other attention or exchanging any words. After the dreadful wait, they finally arrived at the station. And to Hyunjin’s surprise, Saerom was there talking to Haseul and holding both her hands as they chatted away and laughed together. Having not seen her former captain in a while, the younger detective cheered loud enough for the Saerom and Haseul to notice her as she charged at the older captain, engulfing her in a loving bear hug. 

“Hyunjin-ah! How’ve you been??” Saerom returned the embrace. 

“Saerom~~! I miss you so much!” 

“Aw Hyunjinnie, we saw each other last week though.” 

“But still.” She let out a cute pout and Saerom almost considered talking to the headquarters to request Hyunjin to come back to her station, but she knew orders were orders and decided against that decision. 

“You’ll be fine, ya big baby.” Saerom playfully teased before removing herself from Hyunjin’s embrace. “Aside from that, I’m glad you’re here just on time for something really important.” 

“Oh, like what?” 

“I need you to babysit my cousin.” Saerom had said with some hesitation in her tone.

  
  


_ …………what. _

  
  


“You want me to babysit Jiheon…?” 

“_ Only _ for the time being. I’m not gonna be home all day and everyone in our family just so happens to be busy today, so I was hoping you wouldn’t mind?” 

“I-I mean, no of course not! I don’t mind at all, it’s just I’m about to go on a mission to this school Haseul told me about.”

“Oh yeah! Haseul told me, too. You’re going to Jiheon’s high school.”

“Wait…then that means—“

“HYUNJIN-UNNIE~!” She heard two voices simultaneously call out her name.

“Jiheon?!” Hyunjin looked over Saerom’s shoulder and saw the young high schooler waving at her. Heejin watched curiously, getting out of the car as well. Hyunjin opened her mouth to say something, only to get tackled in a hug.

“I’m here too!” Another voice called out, and Hyunjin was tackled in another hug. 

“Yujin??"

“Unnie! It’s been a while.” Yujin had ran up to Hyunjin and gave her a crushing hug before she spun the older girl around. Haseul and Heejin stood there awkwardly while the exchange was happening. 

"What are you guys doing here? And not in school right now?” Hyunjin asked.

“Oh Saerom-unnie told me you guys were coming to our school and that you'd be dropping us off!” Jiheon answered, smiling from ear to ear. 

“With…with permission?” Heejin asked, speaking up for the first time since the high schoolers came. 

“Holy shit it’s _ the _ Jeon Heejin” Yujin whispered not so subtly. Jiheon elbowed her before stepping behind Hyunjin shyly.

“Yeojin showed me the pictures. Are you two dating now?” Jiheon whispered, curiosity bright in her eyes. 

“What?? NO!” Hyunjin immediately exclaimed, praying Heejin didn’t hear the inquiry. Thankfully, she was too distracted by Yujin’s myriad of questions to notice, to Hyunjin’s relief.

“This is quite a coincidence. I was just about to go to your school to investigate something, apparently.” 

“Well if you don’t wanna waste anymore time, Kim, I suggest we hurry.” Heejin checked her phone before walking past them and sat on by her desk. 

Yujin and Jiheon stared at the older detective in awe since they've read so much about Heejin’s accomplishments and what she offered to the police force in terms of skills. 

"I remember that one time when she solved the case of a jewelry necklace that was stolen from the National Museum." Jiheon commented with enthusiasm.

"Oh yeah! She only took a day!" While Yujin and Jiheon gossiping about Heejin, Hyunjin merely stood there. 

  
  


_ I was supposed to solve that case… _

  
  


"Jeon Heejin is so amazing…I wonder how she does it."

“I wanna be like her someday. She's so cool! And on top of that, really really pretty.” Yujin turned around and smiled excitedly at Hyunjin, who rolled her eyes at the small rant.

“You should see me in action, too, kid. But for now, we need to hurry while you and Jiheon get ready for school.”

“Hmm~ fine. Is Jeon Heejin coming with us?” Yujin whined a little.

"Well duh, she's my partner." 

“OMG!” Jiheon exclaimed almost too loudly.

"No way! Why didn't you tell me, unnie?? You're so lucky." 

"_ Anyways _. We're heading out now." Hyunjin strictly emphasized, not wanting to hear anymore indirect praises about Heejin. "Jeon! You ready yet?" 

"Hold on a sec. I'm still looking at the file." 

Speaking of which, the younger of the two detectives didn't get a chance to see the portfolio yet, so Hyunjin walks up to where her partner was standing and the victim's profile. It was a photo of a young boy around Yujin's age, although he was older by a year. He was the captain of the school's football team, had straight A's, was known as the nicest boy the school's ever had, even being voted as Prom King. This kid had everything most students wished they had and he was totally innocent.

“Poor guy…what could’ve done this to him?” Heejin asked mostly herself. But that alone raised even more questions between the two detectives. 

“Hm…well, whatever it was, we should be on our way right now to find out.”

”Agreed.” 

With that, Hyunjin quickly drove the group to Seoul High School as Yujin and Jiheon fangirl over Heejin in the backseat, much to the younger detective’s displeasement. The trip to the school was somewhat hectic since there was traffic along the way but luckily, Hyunjin went early so the kids sitting in the back weren’t doomed to lateness. To kill some time, Jiheon broke the silence.

“Hey Hyunjin-unnie, I know you’re busy and all, but Yujin and I are having a track competition with another school tomorrow and we were wondering if you and Heejin-unnie would like to come!”

“Uuuhh depends if we have another mission or not. But once we’re done with this one, we have to go back to the hospital.”

“What for??” Yujin butted in, now suddenly worried. 

“Just last week, we practically got our asses kicked by an old friend. It’s rather complicated, but that's pretty much it.” Heejin answer her question without giving away too much information since she remembered how Jiho wanted to keep the whole ordeal a “top secret”. Yujin and Jiheon gasped and quietly squealed when their role model Jeon Heejin spoke to them. 

“That’s so cool! Does that explain your black eye?”

“Ugh, yeah. Suffered a nasty blow.”

“Wow~ you must’ve fought bravely, unnie!” Jiheon awed again, which left Heejin a blushing mess.

“T-thank you.” The older detective chuckled in a shy manner and rubbed the back of her neck. Hyunjin, on the other hand, rolled her eyes for the 100th time today. 

Yujin turned to whisper into Jiheon’s ear. “I wish I could see Heejin-unnie in action. I’d probably cry from how cool she is.”

“Me too! I so wanna be like her in the future.”

“Same!”

They both faced the front again and Yujin spoke once more. “Are your jobs easy?”

“Only if you’re really experienced and passionate about it. You might get the hang of it later on.”

“Hard missions need lots of intelligence and potentially, some kicking and punching along the way.”

Hyunjin’s input made Heejin softly laugh as she had a flashback to last week when she and her partner were beaten to pulps by Yena, but thank god they overpowered her anyway. She couldn’t imagine what would’ve happened if Hyunjin didn’t arrive on time to save her and Mia. Heejin couldn't comprehend what she was feeling, but the thought of her partner coming to her rescue made her heart flutter. 

“Wow…that must be a lot of work. I wanna join the police force one day!” Yujin almost cheered the declaration as Jiheon nodded, agreeing with her just as earnestly, but that raised eyebrows on Hyunjin. 

“It’s a really tough job, kid. You need to be built and overall smart, to begin with.”

“We’re determine!” Jiheon replied. 

“Well, good luck then. Choosing this path requires a lot out of you, so be careful.”

Heejin ended the conversation spectacularly, thought the two school students in the back, even though it merely contained minimal vocabulary. As the drive continued on, the silence somehow became comforting. Heejin leaned her elbow on the car door with her chin in her palm while the Yujin and Jiheon were chatting away in the back. When Hyunjin finally saw the school in sight, she announced it for everyone in the car to hear. By the time she parked by the gate, Yeojin was already waiting for them. 

“Yooo! What’s up, guys?” She enthusiastically greeted them. 

“Yeojin-unnie~!” Yujin and Jiheon called from Hyunjin’s car before exiting and running towards the small girl. Heejin and Hyunjin were amused at the soft interaction since they rarely hear Yeojin being called an “unnie”. Sometimes they forget she’s older than some kids in her school. 

Afterwards, Hyunjin finally found a good parking spot just outside the school’s track field, which was located right behind the school. There, they met up with Lieutenant Im Nayeon on the vast football field.

“Lieutenant! It’s nice to see you again.” Hyunjin greeted before doing a salute. And this time, Heejin chuckled at how…cute it was.

“Detective Kim and Jeon. We’re glad you’re here on time.” Nayeon was somewhat panting like she just ran a mile.

“Do you mind filling us in on what happened?”

“Alright, so the ambulance have already taken him away for examination in the…” Nayeon looked around before quickly whispering for the two detectives to hear. “Lab.” They both quickly understood and nodded as Nayeon continued explaining the case to them. “When I investigated the scene with everyone else, we found that his symptoms were really off. The boy was sweating a ton, heavily breathing and his heart rate was out of control. Like he was high on caffeine or something.”

“Interesting…then, he must’ve consumed some beverage or whatever prior to this incident.” Heejin theorized. 

“Exactly. This is what we found in his bag." Nayeon held up a green Hydro Flask with the initials NDR taped on it; the boy's name. "His friends said he was just fine the day before, but apparently his mood was completely different, like the exact opposite of what he always is; kind, funny, charismatic, and wholesomely a great guy. He didn’t seem like he had a bad day either.”

“Then this barely makes any sense…sudden mood change could be explained with bipolar disorder, but he’s not diagnosed with that as far as I’m aware, right?” The younger detective made sure.

“Yeah he’s not.”

“Hmm…I guess we’ll only find out if we can look around.” Hyunjin concluded.

“I’ve already confirmed your guys’ presence to the principal so you don’t have to meet with her.”

“Awesome. Time to get to work, then.” 

“Oh before we go, I was instructed to give you guys these.” Nayeon informed the two detectives before supplying them with gloves, evidence bags, q-tips, and test tubes. 

“Thank you, lieutenant Im!” 

Heejin stated as she and Hyunjin began wandering around fields where the boy had fainted. Nayeon rounded up her investigation team before exiting through the gates of the school. Now it was just the two of them.

The two detectives wore white, forensic gloves as they brought along plastic to obtain whatever they find in this giant area. Hyunjin went on a scavenger hunt for evidence on the bleachers while Heejin checked the perimeter of the field. It was quite sunny this morning so the bleachers were too hot for comfort, but Hyunjin dealt with it anyways and carried on with her search for something suspicious looking. She constantly double checked her previous spots to make sure she didn’t miss anything, therefore, Hyunjin jogged up and down the stairs of the bleachers, simultaneously considering it investigating and a work-out. After a while, she decided to take a seat at the lowest level of the bleachers to calm herself down and crossed her leg over the other.

“Why’s it so hot today?” Hyunjin sighed and wiped some sweat from her forehead. “I should check the weather.” Temporarily removing her glove from one of her hands, she fished out her phone and scrolled to the weather widget. To Hyunjin’s shock, the temperature was approaching 100 degrees fahrenheit. “Holy crap!” She furrowed her eyebrows and exclaimed before standing up. 

  
  
  


_ **SQUISH!** _

  
  
  


Hyunjin immediately froze upon hearing the sound…and feeling something gross under her shoe. Hesitantly, she looked down to see what on earth she stepped on.

“Where the hell did this come from??” Hyunjin asked herself as she grimaced even more when the strange liquid continued pouring out from under her seat. She flinched and backed away to prevent her shoes from getting dirtier. What’s stranger was that liquid was purple and glittery. 

_ Wait a minute, purple _. Hyunjin thought back to report that Haseul sent to her and Heejin. “Purple eye color….” Taking out a q-tip and a test tube, Hyunjin dipped the cotton into the liquid, then carefully placing it in the small glass container, all while scowling in disgust.

After dropping the tube into the bag, Hyunjin continued investigating the bleachers as she walked all the way to the top again and looked at the bottom. She stared down in awe, the view being nicer than she thought. Maybe it was because of the beautiful scenery or the fact that it wasn't too high up, but for some reason, Hyunjin wasn’t frightened by the height compared to the building where she was forced to plummet from with Heejin. 

Hyunjin placed both her arms on the railing before resting her chin on the back of her hands. Feeling like she could use a short break, she closed her eyes, took time to relax and let the breeze hit her face, despite the hot weather. Soon, Hyunjin felt the wind getting more prevalent but didn't give it much mind because the windier it was, the more it made her feel relaxed. Suddenly, she heard footsteps below. It was as if someone was running since the steps sounded rapid. Hyunjin opened her eyes and looked down from where she was. There, she saw some girl dashing away from the bleachers in an urgent manner. 

  
  


_ Hmm…brown hair, plain white sweater and a red skirt. _

  
  


Hyunjin narrowed her eyes at the running figure in order to get a better look to see the girl's face, but she had already disappeared from the detective's view. Shrugging her shoulders, Hyunjin sighed before walking down the bleachers and approaching the field. There, she saw Heejin squatting by the fence and couldn't help but think how adorable the other detective looks, but she quickly shook her head to get rid of the weird thought.

Meanwhile, Heejin got tired of squatting so she sat down on the dirt grass to examine a piece of navy blue cloth with sewn letters reading "LM", as well as a dark stain. Heejin frowned before swiping her gloved finger to inspect what color is was, and sure enough, a purple color with a hint of glitter smeared on the glove. She arched an eyebrow, clearly confused as to why a cloth like this was out here in the football field. Numerous thoughts raced through her mind as she began theorizing possibilities. 

It could be purple paint that someone used the cloth to wipe, but that would be determined by the smell. Hesitatingly, Heejin sniffed it and strangely, there was no paint odor but the typical cologne that men often use. She immediately moved the thin fabric away from her nose and scrunched her face in disgust, hating the smell of cologne. Heejin used the sleeve of sweater to wipe her nose at the wrist area before standing up. As she turned around to make her way back to Hyunjin, a piece of post-it note flew directly to her face covering her bruised eye. Grunting in slight pain, she carefully removed the petty paper from her face. To Heejin's surprise, the note read "XIIX, we will bite back." 

"What the…." The quote sounded vaguely familiar but Heejin couldn't remember what. Gently rubbing her eye, she walked towards Hyunjin who was staring at the lower level of the bleachers, as if inspecting it from far away. "Kim!" Hyunjin turned towards Heejin. "You find anything?" Silently, the younger detective held up her plastic bag, displaying the test tube with the q-tip and purple liquid inside. This made Heejin fall silent. "What were you staring at?" 

"That." Hyunjin pointed for her partner to see and the older detective was instantly taken aback at how much liquid was oozing out from under the seat.

"Oh my god. That's so much." 

"It just happened while I sat down. I guess I was too heavy and the pressure…yeah." Hyunjin gestured with her hands and awkwardly ended her sentence, earning a soft chuckle from Heejin. 

"Since this was found while we were investigating, it's best to not alert the janitor about, _ that stuff _." 

"So we're just gonna leave it there??" 

"Let's just tell the principal so the school will keep kids away from this side of the bleachers." 

"Alright, whatever." Just as they turn around, they were greeted byー

"Yo! What's up, guys??" 

"AH!" The two detectives immediately yelped upon the ovation as Hyunjin's hand instinctively met the person's cheek.

“The hell was that for???”

“Jesus christ…don’t scare us while we’re in the middle of investigating!” Heejin ignored the question and went right to scolding the young girl.

“Consider yourself lucky I didn’t use my damn foot.”

“UH ok?? Doesn’t excuse shit!”

“Does too!”

“Does NOT!!”

“DOES TOO!”

“**DOES NOT!!**”

“Alright enough! What are you even doing here, Yeojin?” The older detective had to hold Hyunjin back from actually swinging her leg at the bratty geek. 

“Just wanted to see how you guys were doing. Also stoked you guys are here in my school where shit happens.” Yeojin enthusiastically explained. 

“Well we’re just about to head to the principal and tell them to temporarily vacate bleachers.”

“What’d you guys find??” Silently, Hyunjin pointed towards the direction where the purple goo was still leaking out from under the bleachers where she last sat. “Holy hell. Wouldn’t that alert the lieutenant Im’s investigation team to come back?”

“When she’s free, yes. But for now, we’re on our own.” Heejin concluded before walking off to meet with the principal, with her partner and Yeojin following close behind. 

“So does that mean I can skip school and be detectives with you guys??” The younger girl smiled anticipatingly. 

“Wh— no! That’s not what I meant.”

“Aw come on, pleeeaaase?”

“No, Yeojin. You should know by now you’re not old enough for this job yet. Now go back to class.”

“But can’t I hack into the camera system for you guys or something?? You’d need me eventually.” Yeojin boasted and continued smiling. 

Both Hyunjin and Heejin became quiet after Yeojin’s suggestion. There were cameras placed around the school campus, so whatever happened to the boy prior to him passing out, chances were likely that the cameras caught that moment somewhere in this large institution. As they both exchanged wordless glances. It seemed that the two detectives could tell they were both hesitant to include Yeojin, of all people, to be apart of this investigation. Although they had no clue what will happen later, this was a chance to find crucial evidence. But what would Haseul think about this once she finds out? And will they be fine after this mission?

“So what do you guys think?” Yeojin broke them out of their trance and brought their attention back to her. 

“Well…camera footages _ are _ important.”

“YES! No school!”

“Hey. What about Haseul?” Hyunjin pulled on Heejin’s arm so she can whisper into her ear. “How the heck are we gonna explain to her about getting that kind of evidence without infiltrating the school’s office?”

“We’ll just ask the principal!”

“Do you really think she’s gonna say yes?” Hyunjin arched an eyebrow and stared at her partner while crossing her arms.

“You’re forgetting something really important, Kim.” Heejin made an evil smirk and this time, both Hyunjin and Yeojin were confused. 

  
  
  


_______

  
  
  
  


“Oh my god! I can’t believe it—you guys are actually in my office!!” The principal had her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide and happy, and was overall excited having the two most famous prodigy detectives standing in the same room as her. “W-what brings you two here in this—uh, room?” She practically stuttered while trying to compose herself. Yeojin rolled her eyes at this interaction.

“Well, principal, we were wondering if you could kindly tape off one of the bleachers in the football field.”

“Really? What seems to be the problem?”

“During our short investigation, we found a strange purple substance leaking from under the bleachers, therefore, it is highly advised that students keep at a safe distance from it.” Hyunjin included. 

“We suspect that liquid might have caused the male student to pass out during football practice the other day.”

“Oh no…I’ll have the janitors work on that soon.”

“Great! And in the meantime, we’ll contact our lieutenant on the case.” Just before Heejin nearly forgot about the cameras, Hyunjin quickly, but quietly reminded her partner to get the principal’s permission to review the CCTV cameras. “Oh! One more thing, if you don’t mind, principal.”

“Not at all! What do you need?”

“Is it alright if we review some tapes of the cameras around the school to see what happened to the male student before he collapsed?”

“Yes, of course, I don’t mind at all.” All three girls sighed in relief as Yeojin hastily entered the monitor room. Inside, Hyunjin and Heejin couldn’t believe how many computers there were, practically an entire wall of monitors. They wondered how Yeojin was going to keep watch on all of these screens at once. 

“Yeo, you sure you can handle this many computers?”

“Well duh! This is nothing new to me.”

“Whatever you say.” Hyunjin sarcastically remarked, earning a stink eye from Yeojin. 

“Anyways,” Heejin intervened the two immature beings, “let’s find an area where the dude could’ve been last seen before he got all wack.” Her unprofessional language amused Hyunjin, now knowing the difference of how Heejin is in front of authorities compared to her friends. 

“Uuhh….” Yeojin narrowed her eyes as she scanned each monitor. It took her a few seconds until she found one good place. “Hey, how’ bout this one?” She pointed to a monitor that focused on the entrance to the boy’s locker room. 

“Oh perfect!” Heejin smiled along with the geek.

“Then that means we should find the exit because then we can tell the difference before and after he entered.” Hyunjin noted as both Heejin and Yeojin agreed. The younger girl looked around some more and discovered it in a couple of seconds. 

“Found it!” She placed her finger on the monitor to bring the two detectives’ attention to it. They both looked towards where Yeojin was pointing, viewing the exit of the boy’s locker room. “Now let me just rewind this thing….” She tried to access the cameras in order to control the timelapse, but a popup notified her that she needed to verify with a password. Just before Hyunjin was about to comment something, Yeojin beat her to it. “Don’t worry, I got this.” The geek smirked while the younger detective rolled her eyes. After some vigorous typing, Yeojin was able to gain access to the computer within a few seconds. 

  
  


Hyunjin and Heejin waited patiently as Yeojin rewinded the first tape. There, the trio could clearly see the boy socializing with his friends for a bit at the entrance of the locker room. Or rather, they were talking amongst each and he excluded himself. He seemed quite off, like Haseul and Nayeon had reported to them. And sure enough, the boy just stood there like a statue, emotionless. It didn’t seem like…he wanted to be there. He constantly looked back and forth between his friends and the locker room before his eyes slowly raised towards the camera, staring directly at it. 

“What the….” Hyunjin was fairly creeped out by the action. 

She knew the guy had acted weird by the time she and her partner received his file, but didn’t expect him to be THAT weird. Heejin, on the other hand, narrowed her gaze at him and analyzed his facial expressions. Although his eyes were empty and void of barely, if any, emotions at all, but for some reason, Heejin felt like it was as if he was sending some sort of message; reaching out for help. As the footage continued playing, his friends seemed to finally notice him looking at the camera. Some gave him weird glances while others averted their attention towards the recording device to see why he’s staring at it. Realizing that there was nothing wrong, they tried to get his attention but his head suddenly slumped as he faced the ground. His group of friends all looked at each other, now deeply concerned for the boy. They quickly guided him inside the lock room to see what’s up. 

“That was odd….” Heejin was taken aback by the actions.

“Yeah…let's just see the other camera." 

Without another word, the young hacker switched to the exit and fast forwarded the clip. But after a while, they didn’t see the boy come out. All they saw were other football players coming out of the exit except for him and his friends. Frowning, the two detectives traded looks at each other, confused as to why he wasn’t exiting the back door of the locker room. What in the world was he doing? Did something happen to him? Was he in trouble? Did he do something to them? Or did they do something to him? The more they thought deeply about the scenarios, the more questions plagued their minds. Suddenly, Heejin snapped her fingers as her eyes light up with a new idea.

“I’ve got it! Maybe the reason why he didn’t leave through the exit is because he probably went to the entrance instead.” 

"Oh of course, Yeojin switch back to the entrance." 

"Got it."

To Heejin's speculations, she was right. He and his friends went out towards the entrance instead of the exit. But other football players used the entrance as well. 

"Huh. Maybe that's just a thing." Heejin felt embarrassed at how she thought something bad happened when turns out it wasn't that deep at all. 

"What can I say? People are weird." The older detective narrowed her eyes at Hyunjin. 

"Gee, you don't say." She remarked sarcastically, earning a snarl from the younger girl. 

"So what are you guys planning to do now?" 

“Hm. I guess we’ll just have to contact lieutenant Im and see if she’s already done with her work.”

“In the meantime, I say we go walk around campus and see if we find anything else suspicious.”

“Sure. Yeo, stay here and if you see—“

“Anything weird contact, contact you immediately. I _ know _, Heejin, stop the baby talk already!”

“Fine, ya’ big brat! Jesus. I’m serious though.” Yeojin rolled her eyes before shooting the two detectives a thumbs-up as they finally head out. 

The campus was much larger than they could’ve imagined. The two detectives weren’t sure if they could find anything in this place on time. But being persistent, Hyunjin and Heejin were both determined to find at least something crucial by the end of the day, so they decided to split up for now and meet by the school’s cafeteria after about 15 minutes. 

Within that time, Hyunjin scanned the hallway where the lockers were. She glided the tip of her fingers across the smooth, steel, amazed at how cool and nice the surface felt. The lockers were beautifully painted dark red as well, which made Hyunjin assume that the renovation was recent.

She began walking while still gliding her fingers across all the lockers, feeling the gentle texture of the paint. This was oddly satisfying for Hyunjin since it’s been awhile since she felt something this smooth and serene, so she enjoyed the sensation while it lasted. Once she reached the last locker, she slightly pouted at the lost feeling. But Hyunjin quickly reminded herself that she was here for something more important than this. 

Just when the young detective was about to do some serious exploring, Hyunjin felt something on her hand before looking down to see dark red paint all over her hand. Eyes wide, she quickly retraced her steps and found one of the lockers had been smeared. However, Hyunjin suddenly stood still upon reading a message plastered onto the locker. Due to the paint smear, the detective was able to unintentionally discover a note hidden under the paint, which Hyunjin assumed it was written with permanent marker. 

  
  
  


** _Hello, Kim Hyunjin_ **

  
  
  


Upon reading the message, the detective quickly began glancing around to search for the person who was watching her back and laughing at her. Now fuming, whether or not this was a prank, it was a rather sick joke to pull on someone, especially a detective working under the police force. 

She then remembered why she always hated high school, but she quickly shook her head of the thought before continuing to stare at the ominous message. Hyunjin contemplated whether or not she should call her partner about this and take a picture to show as proof. 

After deciding her choice, she carefully took out her phone and was about to snap a picture, a hand was suddenly placed on her shoulder. And as always, Hyunjin instinctively grabbed onto the person’s wrist and twisted the limb before it onto their back, forcing them down to their knees as they yelped in pain. The last thing Hyunjin expected however, was for the person to be Yujin, her cousin. Jiheon was surprisingly there as well, witnessing the whole thing happening before her eyes. There was a brief silence until Jiheon suddenly spoke. 

“Whoa~~! That was so cool, Hyunjin-unnie, you should teach us that someday.”

“Uhー sorry, Yujinnie, I didn’t know that was you.” The detective quickly released her cousin from her grasp before gently rubbing her shoulder. 

“I-it’s ok, unnie. I should’ve called your name first.” Hyunijn and Jiheon helped the poor girl up to her feet before she proceeded to question. “So what brings you all the way here?”

“I’m trying to look for more clues that can connect with today’s incident, if you two aren’t aware of it already.”

“Ah yeah! Our history teacher broke the news out to class today. Poor Dareum, he’s such a good guy.”

“Yeah, I know. While I was scavenging, I found this by chance.” Hyunijn pointed towards the locker for Yujin and Jiheon to see. They both instantly covered their mouths with their hands. 

“That’s so creepy, we should alert the principal, unnie! Writing stuff on the lockers is against the rules.” Yujin informed as Jiheon also stepped in. 

“You can face up to 2 weeks of detention.”

“Well good, whoever’s locker this belongs to will have to speak to the principal herself. Also, Yujin, can you use my phone to take a picture of that for me? I need it to report back to the station.”

“Kay kay.” Hyunjin handed the younger girl her phone as she opened the camera app to snap a picture of the message on the locker. “Alright, off I go now, you two better get back to class.” With that, Hyunjin began walking off but the two high schoolers quickly stopped her. 

“Wait, Hyunijn-unnie!” Yujin grabbed onto her older cousin’s wrist.  
  
“Ah geez, what now?”

“Can we help you guys investigate, please??”

“Yeah, we’ll do our best.”

“Come on, you two. School is important, even though it’s high school, you need to get your education.”

“But unnie~~~ please allow us to help. We know our school is pretty big, so it’s gonna be difficult to find something around here, no?” These were one of the many reasons why Hyunjin regretted inviting Yujin to hang out with her friend group at her old station; the younger girl was becoming too smart. 

Hyunjin gave the two weird looks while they exchanged her some puppy eyes. The detective sighed before reluctantly agreeing to their pleas. “…fine. You can help us investigate, BUT you are strictly prohibited from touching anything suspicious you find. Once you do, immediately tell me or Jeon, got it?” Upon hearing this, Yujin and Jiheon eagerly and vigorously nodded their heads, their happiness satisfied to the max when Hyunjin granted them permission to help out with the investigation. 

And little did they all know, a figure hiding behind the edge of the wall was witnessing their whole interaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


	10. Unknown City, part 2

10:46 Unknown City

  
  
  


The young woman swiped through the photos on her phone that the kind, but still suspicious stranger next door had helped her recover from her old phone. She appreciated the help but knew she couldn’t trust anyone allowed to interact with her. Limbo surveilled her like a rat with three heads, and she wouldn’t be surprised if every tenant in the building was a member. 

She continued going through the photos until she reached one of three people, one of them being her. The other two being a girl her age with bright purple hair and a shorter girl with light blonde hair. The background of the image was a dance dance revolution machine at an arcade close to home. Home. 

  
  


~

  
  


_ There they stood chatting away in morning sunlight just outside the school gates. They've already spent most of their time purchasing ice cream and skipping around as time for the school bell to ring progressively decreases by seconds. Then one of them suggested.  _

_ "Hey! Let's just skip school for today and go have some fun."  _

_ "Yerim, you know we'll get in trouble."  _

_ "Which is why we're gonna make up a lie and say that we were sick." The brown-haired girl quickly suggested until the raven haired girl stopped her.  _

_ "Together? We're all sick together??" She dramatically motioned to all them.  _

_ "Let's just hang out after school, we'll still have a lot of time, Yerimmie." Chaewon clasped her girlfriend's hands in an attempt to convince her. _

_ "But not as much as now. Do you two have anything important in your classes today?"  _

_ "Well, no…." Hyejoo's answer lingered as her eyes fell on Chaewon and Yerim's hands holding each other.  _

_ "There ya go! No need for worries about school! Let's have this whole day for ourselves."  _

_ "I guess taking a day off wouldn't hurt, wanna come, Hyejoo?"  _

_ "U-um, Iー" _

_ "Of course she's coming! We're not complete if there isn't all 3 of us! Come on, let's go!"  _

_ Before Hyejoo could protest, she and Chaewon had no other choice but to let themselves get dragged away by an enthusiastic Yerim, who had intertwined both her arms with her two best friends. The ones being pulled merely shook their heads and chuckled along.  _

_ Hyejoo spared a glimpse towards Chaewon and almost immediately, her heart skipped a beat. She'd often find herself gazing at the older girl for too long, and before she knew it, she was enchanted every time. But Hyejoo also had to limit herself since she knew the relationship between Chaewon and her best friend Yerim.  _

_ The last thing Hyejoo wanted to do was ruin their friendship all because she was envious. She would do anything to keep them happy, and by that, Hyejoo had to keep her crush on Chaewon a secret. She realized she didn't have a chance and as long as they were happy and joyous with each other, then everything is fine with her. Hyejoo just had to deal with it.  _

_ For now, she quickly turned her attention away from Chaewon and focused on where exactly Yerim was taking them. Then, as Hyejoo looked around, she recognized this block and street.  _

_ "Wait, are we going to theー" _

_ "Arcade!! But first, we're getting more ice cream." Yerim enthusiastically interrupted Hyejoo's question. _

_ With that being said, all three of them made their orders before heading to the arcade just conveniently across the street from them. Yerim purchased their coins as they roamed around, gazing at all the active consoles and people going ballistic over some level that they're close to beating.  _

_ There were different types of people at arcades, according to Hyejoo: easygoing gamers, rage quitters, and pro gamers. She didn't know which one she categorized in, but she figured this was going to be a fun day regardless.  _

_ Looking behind her shoulders, Hyejoo noticed how lovey dovey Chaewon and Yerim were. The hand holdings, cheek kisses, staring at each other with nothing but love in their eyes, and small pecks. Hyejoo tried her best to ignore this, there was no reason for her to be "a bit" jealous over their relationship because they're her best friends. She sighed as her hand raked her hair back and putting some strands behind her ear.  _

_ “Glad you came now huh?” Her best friend, Yerim said teasingly. _

_ “Yeah, whatever.” She grumbled, feeding another token into the coin slot of the basketball game machine. _

_ “Isn’t this better than your overleague?” Yerim asked, picking up a basketball and shooting it precisely into the low hoop. _

_ “It’s Overwatch and League of Legends.” Chaewon corrected, appearing at Yerim’s side with cotton candy in her hand. She held it up to Yerim’s mouth. _

_ “You’re the best!” Yerim had exclaimed and turned quickly to peck Chaewon on the lips before turning her attention back to the basketball game. Chaewon had blushed and ducked her head, not quite used to public displays of affection. Hyejoo tried her best to hold back a wince, trying to smile and be happy for the people closest to her instead.  _

_ Chaewon noticed her friend's discomfort and shot her a worried look that the younger girl just shook her head at. ‘It’s nothing’ she mouthed in response, forcing a small smile.  _

_ “What’s got you so down, pup?” Yerim asked concernedly, forgetting all about the game to turn to her best friend. _

_ “What do you mean? I’m fine.” Hyejoo answered.  _

_ “I’ve known you for far too long to know that you’re not.” Yerim said, taking the girl’s hands into her own. Hyejoo took a deep breath before exhaling, deciding to go with a little of the truth. _

_ “It’s our last summer together before I go to the police academy. Yeah I’ll be with Chaewon, Heejin, Haseul and Sooyoung but we won’t be there together. As a trio.” The girl explained, squeezing Yerim’s hands briefly. Yerim’s worried expression changed to an unreadable one before she tackled the girl in a hug. Chaewon hesitantly joined in, trying her best to wrap her arms around both of them. _

_ "It's alright, guys. Even if I might not be with you, just remember I'll always come back someday." Yerim clarified for both her friends' understanding. Their hug broke apart and then they went their separate ways in the arcade, searching for whatever else that will grab their attention. _

_ Hyejoo then spotted a boxing machine and her eyes lit up. Without any hesitation, she jogged over to the arcade machine and placed her ice cream cup on the floor before inserting some coins into the slot. The console became alive and instructed her to punch the bag that was hanging just slightly above Hyejoo's head, challenging her to beat the highest score, which was 652 points.  _

_ Hyejoo had started working out often lately so she was hoping that would get her a decent score, even if it didn't beat the highest. She took a long, deep breath and audibly exhaled. Raising her right fist, Hyejoo clasped onto her wrist with her hand in hopes that would give her more strength.  _

_ After a few seconds of taking more breaths and exhaling, Hyejoo quickly struck the punching bag with her utmost vitality, nearly breaking the machine. The jab was rather loud, but that showed her how much energy she used on it. Cracking her knuckles, Hyejoo's hand was clearly becoming red as she looked up to see what her score was. To her surprise, she definitely surpassed the highest score, peaking with 999 points. Hyejoo was so distracted by the scoreboard that she failed to notice her two friends standing in awe behind her.  _

_ "HYEJOO!" She flinched and turned around at Yerim's loud exclamation. "That was so cool!!"  _

_ "Assaaaaa you're amazing!!!" Chaewon did little cute hops while applauding the younger girl, earning a blush from her as she shyly rubbed her neck. _

_ "It's not that big of a deal…." Hyejoo slightly cowered back.  _

_ "You could sock a professional boxer with a punch like that!" Yerim playfully commented and mimicked her friend's punch. _

_ "Yeah! That will definitely get you accepted into the police academy!" Chaewon included, grabbing both Yerim and Hyejoo's attention.  _

_ Oh that's right, the police academy. Hyejoo and Chaewon wanted to become police officers and detectives to help fight crime in the world. Heejin had told them both that she'd been dreaming of being one for as long as they could remember, so they were guessing that all her talk about fighting criminals and being cool law enforcement like on TV just got them inspired to pursue the career with her. That also reminded the two that Haseul and Sooyoung are graduating soon to become captains, so there was a likely chance that they'll be advised under either of the two.  _

_ They had told Yerim about it but she told them she wasn't sure about the idea, saying she'd consider it but most likely wouldn't go with them. It saddened Hyejoo and Chaewon but whatever Yerim wanted to be in the future, something that would help the world in some way shape or form, they'll support her no matter what. But for now, they had goals planned ahead of them.  _

_ "I'm so nervous just thinking about it."  _

_ "Hyejoo-ah, you'll be fine. You've been to the gym like 24/7 for a few months now, there's no way they wouldn't accept you."  _

_ "Heejin said they're really strict though."  _

_ "I know, she told me too, but they'd definitely be missing out if you aren't accepted." Chaewon's statement made Yerim chuckle, knowing that it was true but somewhat amusing.  _

_ "Thanks, Chae. What are you gonna apply as?"  _

_ "Well I'm more skilled in computers and stuff, so I guess I'll go for hacking!"  _

_ "That's my girl~" Yerim smiled enthusiastically and kissed Chaewon's cheek, causing the other girl to blush.  _

_ "They're probably gonna be testing your combat skills as well. You should come to the gym with me and Heej."  _

_ "Alright, I'll see if I have time next week then. Yerim, wanna come with us? You can finally meet Heejin!" _

_ "Ah sorry, babe. I'm really busy next week, I have 3 exams to study for and my family wants to visit my relatives in the countryside for the weekend, so I'm pretty packed on schedule."  _

_ "Aw…well, at least we'll see each other again anyways." Chaewon's mood kind of plummeted when Yerim wouldn't be able to make it. She knew Heejin was also always busy with school, family, other schedules and on top of that, getting ready for the police academy.  _

_ Hyejoo saw her sad expression and placed a hand on her shoulder, in an attempt to comfort her friend. It was unfortunate that both Heejin and Yerim were constantly having conflicting schedules with each other, to the point where it was just frustrating and she almost gave up.  _

_ However, she didn't forget the time when Yeojin and Yerim briefly met each other, introducing their names and shook hands. Unfortunately, it was cut short when Haseul told Yeojin to quickly get ready for school before she was late. After that, Hyejoo highly doubted Yeojin even remembered meeting Yerim since she didn't say anything else about their exchange. Hyejoo's thoughts were interrupted when her two friends snapped her out of her thoughts when they said her name.  _

_ "Geez you've been dozing off a lot lately, are you alright, Hye?" Yerim questioned with a visible concerned look on her face.  _

_ "I'm fine, I'm fine, just thinking about the future and all."  _

_ "Let's just have fun for today. We’ll still be able to call and see each other over breaks! Plus, we've got all this time to ourselves, why not spend it well, yeah??" Yerim said, patting both of their heads. The other two barely nodded before Yerim grabbed them by the wrist and dragged them to the dance dance revolution machine. _

  
  


~

  
  


The young woman sighed and put down her phone on the mattress. She wished she could go back to that moment and linger in the embrace, before everything fell apart. 

Yerim had broken up with Chaewon as soon as police academy started the fall semester and neither have heard from her since. She was angry at Yerim at first, for suddenly breaking up with Chaewon and then ghosting both of them, but got more concerned as her best friend was unreachable for longer and longer. That was the last time she ever saw Yerim.


	11. OE Serum

Heejin had been waiting by the cafeteria for a while and she was starting to get worried at why her partner was taking so long as she stood by the entrance, just behind the doors. Looking around the hallway she was currently in, Heejin spotted a camera at the corner, pointing towards her. Remembering that Yeojin was behind it, Heejin waved at it to get her attention. Back in the camera room, Yeojin was consistently monitored every screen before her, even ones that were way above her height, but luckily there was a steady chair to help her. With this, the young hacker was able to see everything within the school; which basically meant she got to be entertained by some guy stepping on chewed up gum and throwing a fit over it. 

When Yeojin sat back down again, she immediately noticed Heejin in the monitor, waving at her. Cracking a smile, Yeojin grabbed the camera controller, moving it up and down. In Heejin’s perspective, the camera above nodded, which told her that she was finally noticed. Afterwards, Heejin used sign-language to communicate with Yeojin across the campus. 

_ Do you know where Kim is? She’s taking a while. _

The camera shook its “head”, saying no. Yeojin flickered the light of the CCTV camera to communicate back with morse code.

_ I’ll find her for you. _

_ Thanks. _

With that being said, or noted, Heejin went back to leaning against the wall and crossing her arms. Sighing, she was starting to get bored from being patient so she decided to peek inside the cafeteria. There was no one in there yet. Heejin strutted inside before closing the door behind her. She was surprised at how big it was, compared to her previous schools and the police academy, figuring this place could hold more students than she initially thought. Heejin took a seat at one of the tables before her phone buzzed; Yeojin had sent a text message.

Heejin then opened her chat with Hyunjin, something she hasn’t done in almost 2 years actually. She chuckled at the name she had given her partner since they last messaged each other; “farthead”.

Meanwhile, Hyunjin was busy trying to keep the two kids following her and not wandering off to another direction. Yujin and Jiheon were constantly making stops (getting distracted) to look at the posters plastered on the school walls. 

Apparently there were some events that their school was hosting and the two kids wanted to attend them. Hyunjin, on the other hand, couldn’t find the spirit within herself to care as much, so whenever they stopped following her, she just grabbed their wrists to keep them by her side at all times. However, this all brought back memories of when she was in high school. And boy did she despise every moment of it, aside from all the excessive work that was assigned to her. Shaking her head, Hyunjin didn’t have time to think about bad thoughts, therefore, she refocused her mind back to this mission. That was when her phone let out a small chime. While still walking, Hyunjin took out her phone to see who text messaged her. And to her surprise, it was Heejin, whom she hadn’t spoken through text in forever.

Sighing, Heejin placed the phone down before resting her chin on the palm of her hand. Closing her eyes, she gets flashbacks from her past, softly smiling at all the memories she spent with her friends and family. But Heejin especially enjoyed the times of when she was in the police academy, although most of the time spent there was studying and studying. And studying. 

Now that Heejin thought about it, she didn't really spend a lot of time with her friends or visited her family during the police academy. Maybe that was why she hasn't been able to catch up with what her friends were doing. She even missed Yeojin's middle school graduation, as well as Haseul's texts and calls telling Heejin ABOUT Yeojin's middle school graduation.

"Wow. I really missed out on a lot…." 

Heejin opened her eyes before sighing again. Despite slightly regretting the fact that she didn't make enough times for her friends, Heejin was still able to learn a lot in the academy. And by a lot, she learned basically _everything_ during the academy. Maybe it was because Heejin was very passionate and dedicated to become a detective, or probably due to the fact that she had to make a living somehow, so she needed the job. Or both. As Heejin was having more flashbacks, her phone buzzed.

Before Heejin could respond back, Hyunjin sent a picture to her.

Sudden clamoring in the distance interrupted Heejin from her texting with Hyunjin, immediately averting her attention to the direction it came from. She quickly told her partner she'll "brb" before narrowing her eyes, getting up from her seat and slowly walking towards the corner. 

Heejin quickly made sure that her pistol was still attached to the waist belt under her large coat. She was ready to pull out the weapon anytime, but knowing the situation right now, anything could happen at any moment. Approaching closer to the counter where the food was served to students, Heejin noticed that the noise came from the storage room. Suddenly, what sounded like a pan falling to the ground, Heejin flinched and just nearly pulled out her pistol when the doors to the storage room flew open. A friendly looking man in his late 20s abruptly came out, panting. 

"Oh!! Hello there."

"Uuhh, hey?"

"You must be the famous detective, Jeon Heejin! Rumors had it that a prodigy detective would be at this today in this school, but I didn't think it'd be you!"

"Thanks, it's no big deal." Heejin shyly scratched her nape. "And you are…?

"Lee Minho! It's an honor to meet you, detective Jeon." They subtly shook hands.

"By the way, what's that?" 

“Oh, our track team have been working very hard lately so I thought I’d surprise them with a cool treat! Don’t tell them though.” 

"Alright, so I assume you're in a hurry?" 

"That's correct! I gotta get going now." Minho winked after giddily explaining before walking back to the storage room and strolling out with a cart, covered with a large, white blanket. The cloth was really thick, therefore, Heejin couldn't see what it was covering and prevented her to realize that something was glowing underneath.

Just then, Hyunjin finally arrived in time as Minho was pushing the cart out of the cafeteria. Yujin recognized her coach and enthusiastically greeted him, to which he waved back, just as energetically as her. Hyunjin approached her partner, who unconsciously still had her hand over her pistol under her coat. 

"Uh. You good?" 

"Yeah, why?" 

Hyunjin pointed towards where Heejin's had her hand on her waist. The older detective quickly removed her palm palm away and chuckled nervously, earning a weird look from her partner.

"Anyways, took you long enough." 

"Like I said,  _ these _ two kids here." Hyunjin motioned behind her for Heejin to look and it seemed that Yujin and Jiheon were too busy chatting away, not noticing them at all. 

"They know they're way around the school, might as well get all the help we need if you wanna leave early." 

"Whatever." 

Afterwards, the two detectives approached Yujin and Jiheon, agreeing to split in order to look around the school some more and see if they find anything out of the ordinary. The kids took minutes debating who got to go with Heejin, earning eye rolls from both detectives. 

Eventually, they agreed on splitting up without more arguments; Yujin going with Hyunjin and Jiheon with Heejin. With that being said, the two groups concluded which areas they'll look at before heading in opposite directions. 

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


“Hey, Jiheon.” Hyunjin mumbled into a Peppa Pig walkie talkie Jiheon had handed her for ‘sneaky purposes’ just as she and Yujin were departing to investigate.

“I read you, eagle 1. Bear 1 here!” Jiheon responded through the walkie talkie with Heejin’s stifled laughter echoing in the background and Yujin’s sudden burst of laughter. Hyunjin, however, had the opposite reaction and rolled her eyes at the ridiculous code names.

“Any luck finding evidence?”

“No, not yet. You know, I’m bad at finding things when I want to. But good at finding things I don’t want to? Like Chaeyoung and Nagyung! Did you know Chaeyoung and Nagyung are together? Like dating?!” 

“WHAT?! You tell me now?” Hyunjin exclaimed and immediately frowned.

“Yeah! I didn’t mean to see but yesterday Minkyung unnie made me tidy up the gear room and when I walked in they were hugging like couples do.” 

“…hugging doesn’t mean they’re a couple. They’ve always been really good friends.”

“They were doing the couple hug. The one where their heads are pressed together and it looks like they’re about to kiss?”

“I still don’t believe it. Are there security cameras in the gear room?”

“Yes but Nagyung is in charge of the technology. Just believe me, Eagle 1! It explains so much.”

“Why would they hide their relationship though? I mean…it does explain a lot but what if they’re just really good friends?” A deep sigh came from the other end alongside the sound of Heejin chuckling.

“Hyunjin-unnie, just ask them if you don’t believe me! Bear 1 over.” Jiheon said before static overcame the line.

“Wait you’re single?? I thought you and Heejin….” Yujin started, leaning over Hyunjin’s shoulder.

“What?! No! No way!” Hyunjin quickly said, shivering at the thought. “Just, help me find evidence!”

“Okay, okay…whatever you say~” Yujin jokingly wiggled her eyebrows with a wide, toothy smile, but that earned her a good smack on the head.

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


At the halls of the school building, Heejin had requested the location of the girl's bathroom after Jiheon suggested it. As they were on their way, the young high school student proceeded to interview Heejin.

"So Heejin-sunbaenim!" The detective was instantly caught off guard.

  
  


** _Sunbaenim??_ ** _ _

  
  


"U-um yeah?" 

"I've heard you were always busy at the police academy. What was it like?" Jiheon questioned with genuine curiosity in her eyes.

"Well, I did take lots of times to learn multiple languages on my own, exercised for hours everyday, and all that extra curricular stuff." 

"Wow, so that means you never had lots of time to take breaks?" 

"Yeah. Honestly, now that I think about it, I always had work to do. The moment I thought I'd be free is when I'm picked up by another schedule again."

"Geez…winter break must've been fun." Jiheon chuckled, as well as Heejin

"I'd say it wasn't that bad. Going on that trip to the boot camp really took a toll on me, but it really helped."

"You went to a boot camp? On  _ winter break _ ?" 

"Crazy, I know." Heejin giggled.

"Was it like…the military or something?" 

"Sort of? Got my butt kicked, quite metaphorically and literally." 

"Wow…that's not mandatory, right?" Jiheon showed some hesitations.

"No, you don't have to worry about it." 

"Phew, thank god. Training in combat is one thing, but boot camp might discipline me to a dead pulp." 

"Haha, you just need strong will and physical strength if you're truly dedicated." 

"Hm, makes sense. That sounds like something Yujin would do." Jiheon chuckled, imagining her best friend being energetic and kicking butt at the same time. 

"I hope you two survive in the future, maybe we'll work together sometime."

"O-oh, um, that'dーbe great! I'd be really honored! Haha." The young high school student became a stuttering mess upon hearing Heejin's suggestion, leaving the detective giggling at her. 

Pretty soon, they finally arrived to the restroom and just like the cafeteria, Heejin was once again awestruck by how spacious it was. This school must've hit the jackpot with all the smart kids that attended here, either that or they were already wealthy. Jiheon excused herself to use the restroom quickly while Heejin stuck around to investigate the large area. There was a hall of bathroom stalls and an extra place with sinks. The corridor took Heejin a whole minute to finally reach the end of it and although she was reluctant to search every single stall for some clues, she put aside her hesitation and did it anyways. While Heejin was busy with that, Jiheon exited a stall and found the older girl investigating and decided to help. As they helped each other out, the detective broke the peaceful silence. 

"You’re pretty close with the officers in Saerom’s station huh?” Heejin inquired briefly while shifting her crouch to examine the dirty floor more closely.

“Most of them have known me since I graduated elementary so they kind of see me as their baby.”

“That makes sense, although I can see why other people see you as a baby as well.” Heejin teased, getting up before turning to face Jiheon. “There’s nothing to find here. Do you wanna go to the cafeteria to wait for Kim and Yujin?”

“Yeah sure!” 

"Guess there's not much here after all." Heejin sighed until Jiheon suddenly stopped her, gripping her arm.

"Wait! I see something on the wall!" Catching the detective's attention, Heejin turned to where Jiheon was pointing. And sure enough, there was a written message that made all the colors leave Heejin's face. How had she not notice that before?

"Not me, too…. Whoever is making this sick joke will pay." Heejin frowned before proceeding to grab some paper towels from the dispenser and used the water from the sink. Afterwards, she tried wiping the message off the wall, but it was no use. 

"U-unnie, I think it's permanent ink." 

"Godammit!" Heejin still tried anyways. Before she realized, that wasn't the only message for her. She slowed down her furious swiping and carefully uncovered something else.

"…Jiheon." 

"Y-yes?" 

"Get behind me. Now." Instantly, the younger girl obeyed the stern order and cowered next to Heejin. 

Taking slow steps by steps, the detective cautiously approached the stall to her right. She had the strong urge to pull out her pistol at this point, but the last thing Heejin wanted to do was risk Jiheon's innocent life for this. If there was a certainty that something or someone would launched at her through that door, she'll be ready to protect Jiheon and just maybe use her pistol if she needed to. Not waiting any longer, Heejin quickly kicked the door open, only to be met with a speed punching bag to the face, knocking her and Jiheon back to the edge of the sink, causing them both to groan. 

"Ow, jesus…Jiheon, are you ok?" Heejin asked her, despite literally being socked in the face a few seconds ago. 

"I'm alright, I'm alright." She quickly assured the older girl. "What was that?" 

Neither of them knew what just happened or why, but they certainly didn't appreciate it. Heejin was first to move closer to the speed bag and yanked it from the top part of the stall door. To her surprise, there was a note attached to it, but that only made her angrier. 

  
  


_ XIIX, we will bite back 😈 _

  
  


As much as she wanted to crumble the paper up and rip it to shreds, Heejin had to compose herself and keep the note as evidence for her mission. Taking both the speed punching bag and the sticky note, she placed them in separate plastic pouches and Jiheon offered to use her backpack to carry them. Heejin gratefully accepted the offer before heading out of the bathroom. They stopped by the entrance and stretched before Jiheon began talking. 

"Gee…that was something." 

"Yeah, damn near almost lost my temper in there." 

"Rightfully so." 

"Let's just get going and meet them back in the cafeteria." 

"Ok!" 

But before they could embark on their short journey back to the place, a whole body harshly bumped into Heejin and shoved her into Jiheon, knocking them both to the ground. It all happened so quickly that they barely noticed a girl quickly getting up and continued running, muttering a quick apology before doing so. The two laid there for a few more seconds, trying to get a good grip on staying conscious. Once they finally got up to their feet, Jiheon pointed out something shiny on the floor.

“Heejin unnie, you dropped your badge!” Jiheon commented.

“But my badge is soundly in my wallet though….” Heejin muttered, confused before picking up the dropped badge and reading off the name carved into it.

  
  


** _송하영 Daegu Station_ **

  
  


“Huh, whose badge could this be?” Heejin asked herself and Jiheon. When the younger girl saw the badge though, there was a long moment of silence before Heejin glanced up at Jiheon. The younger girl had a distant look in her eyes, as well as tears threatening to fall. “Hey…are you okay?” Heejin asked softly, placing a hand on Jiheon’s shoulder. 

“Um…yeah…I’m fine. Just give me a moment.” Jiheon mumbled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. Heejin inhaled before slipping the badge into her pocket, deciding not to push. 

Heejin didn’t know how long she’s been awkwardly staring at the lockers besides Jiheon, all the while rubbing her back to comfort her. Deciding she wanted to message Hyunjin that they're gonna be on their way to the cafeteria soon, Heejin reached for her pocket to grab her phone, but instead, her pocket was empty. 

“Shit.” Heejin cursed under her breath. 

“What’s wrong?” Jiheon sniffled.

“My phone, it's missing.” At that moment, she realized something else. "Hm, the badge must've been the girl's then." 

“It isn’t her badge… it doesn’t belong to that girl.” Jiheon said in a tone so serious Heejin wouldn’t believe that it came from a high school student as bright as her.

“O-oh…sorry” Heejin responded softly. 

“It’s okay. Let’s justー head to the cafeteria.” Jiheon muttered.

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


All four girls reunited after relentless searching of all the crooks and nannies just to come back somewhat empty handed. 

“Man…Yujin and I found nothing.”

“I sure found something but I’m not sure if it has anything to do with this case.” Heejin muttered lowly. 

“What'd you find?” Hyunjin asked, tilting her head. Heejin placed a hand on her collar and tugged her closer before leaning in to whisper, “A badge from someone in Daegu station. It made Jiheon cry.” 

“Are you sure you two aren’t dating?” Yujin asked with a grin before quickly snapping a picture.

“No!” The partners exclaimed in unison, jumping away from each other. Jiheon cracked a small smile, easing Heejin a little.

“Alright I know we’ve been skipping all day but I have practice right after this period, so…oh crud! I only have 5 minutes! Gotta go, bye~!” Yujin frantically bid the group farewell before darting out. 

“Okay, um…I should get going too. And Heejin…please get the badge to Saerom unnie.” Jiheon said, and with a small smile she left as well.

Then there was nothing left but silence. Awkward silence. Heejin didn't know what to say after all that and neither did Hyunjin. They stood there for a good minute, until the younger detective spoke up.

"Sooo…can I have a look at that badge from earlier?" 

"Yeah, sure." Heejin fished the shiny object out of her pocket and handed it to Hyunjin. "By the way, Jiheon told me to give it to Saerom, but I'm not as close with her as you are and I was hoping you do that instead." 

"Oh, okay." Hyunjin took a closer look at the badge and noticed the name. That was when it clicked. "Song Hayoung…she sounds familiar." 

"Who?" 

"Song Hayoung. I think I've heard that name before." 

"Let's just talk about this later. We have a mission to complete." 

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


Yeojin was busy chowing down her lunch that Haseul prepared in a small bento box. She was also taking a break from monitoring the camera screens since there wasn't anything else for her to watch or look out for. She had seen Yujin and Jiheon for their next period, but also didn't forget when Heejin was accidentally pummeled to the ground when some random girl bumped into her, which had Yeojin laughing for 5 whole minutes straight. However, little did the young hacker know, she missed something very important. 

Just then, all the cameras suddenly experienced error at once, shocking Yeojin so bad that she accidentally flung the pork from her chopsticks on instinct. Frantically setting down her lunch box and tossing the chopsticks on her backpack. Yeojin attempted to get the cameras working again, but whatever she was typing on the keyboard wasn't working. Everytime she tried to reenter the system, her access was automatically denied, leaving her a frustrated mess. 

"Shit!!!" Yeojin pounded the desk hard, as if she was nearing a rage quit in a difficult game. 

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


Meanwhile, the same girl who had ran into Heejin rounded an isolated corner, far away from where people usually roam around in school. This mysterious area had no lights, therefore it was darker than the other corridors. The only light the place had was sunlight through the windows, though the girl's eyes were still covered in the darkness. She proceeded to take out a cute bunny cased iPhone and turned the mobile device on, viewing a lockscreen with a picture of police badge that read the name "Jeon Heejin". 

The girl swiped her thumb on the screen and had to enter a passcode to gain full access to the phone. Upon seeing this, she took out a small, dark grey square device, about 2 inches in length. The girl clicked on the tiny button on the back of the device, activating it as a lime green glow illuminated. The square expanded 2 more inches, making it a rectangle. After it sprung to life, she placed the thin object right behind Heejin's phone and waited a few seconds. Then, the password was entered and took her to the homescreen, successfully gaining her full access. She smirked at this little accomplishment. 

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


Yujin was preparing for track meet up and was currently dressing up in her track uniform. The young athlete was smiling the whole time because she was especially excited for tomorrow's game, so Yujin was definitely going to exercise as much as she needed today. She was hoping all of her friends, as well as her cousin Hyunjin and Heejin, would be able to attend for tomorrow's championship match with their rival school. 

She was about to exit the locker room until her teammates suddenly murmured excitedly and pointing at the entrance. Confused, she got up and checked to see what was up. Peeking her head from behind the lockers, Yujin saw Coach Lee passing out purple Gatorades out to all the track members. Seeing everyone crowding around the cart, she too ran to get a bottle of the Gatorade. 

"Thank you, Coach Lee!!" Yujin shouted over her shoulders before running back to her locker. She was so busy being excited and happy about the Gatorade that she failed to hear Minho instruct everyone to meet up in the fields. 

As the track team piled in the grass near the bleachers, they immediately noticed the taped-off seats at the bottom and saw the purple goo on the floor. They all kept saying "whoa" and "omg" while pointing at the bleachers. Before this could continue on even longer, Minho clapped his hands to get their attention and informed them that they had to stay away from the bleachers, according to the principal's orders from the police. 

With that being said, Minho allowed everyone to relax for a bit before they began their training, therefore, everyone proceeded to open their Gatorades and drink some. They all realized how surprisingly delicious the beverage was and drank over half the Gatorades, some even finished the whole bottle. Before any of the track members realized, they started feeling odd. And that feeling only got worse. 

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


Back in the girl's locker room, Yujin opened her purple Gatorade drink with a big smile.

"To the championship!" The young girl then proceeded to take a moderate gulp before closing the bottle. "Hm…is it just me or does this taste really good?" Yujin asked herself. 

Being on the track team, she drank Gatorade all the time, but this one was very different. It was more savory and sweet than any other Gatorade she'd drank in the past. Shrugging, Yujin reopened the bottle and drank some more, smiling at the delicious flavor. Then, everything froze. 

Yujin's smile was completely gone, her mouth still slightly shaped, her grip on the bottle slowly weakened, letting it fall to the floor and the remaining liquid splattered everywhere as her eyes slowly turned into an odd purple eye color….


	12. Purple Trouble

"Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on…." Yeojin was to get her access back on the cameras, doing whatever she could to stop the error that prevented her from seeing what was currently going on. "Ok…this better work." She took out a handmade USB from her backpack quickly plugged it into the large PC under the desk. 

After more furious typing, the screens flickered back to life after Yeojin kicked the router, causing her to punch her fist in the air victoriously. The cameras were _ finally _functioning. She dramatically sighed and rested her forehead on her palm, trying to calm her heart rate that was still rapidly beating. Wiping the sweat off her temples, Yeojin took a glance at the screens of the surveillance cameras again, only for her heart to drop. Her happiness didn’t last for long as she soon realized what was happening on the sports field.

The camera that was pointing towards it displayed total chaos; students throwing stuff everywhere, running into each other, playing catch with a whole water fountain that was definitely way too heavy to carry for one person, and playing dodgeball with a basketball, which flew right through the metal fence and left a hole in it. Some were even ZOOMING around, crashing into each other and the equipment around them. And they weren’t stopping.

Immediately, Yeojin bolted for her phone to dial Heejin’s number, but nearly crushed the device by how hard she was gripping onto it. After the lingering rings, she was lead to voicemail, which Yeojin only then realized that Heejin wasn’t picking up anytime soon. Instead, she quickly called Hyunijn and thank god did it feel relieving when she heard the detective’s voice from the other side. 

“_ Why are you calling— _”

“HYUNJIN UNNIE!!”

“_ Oh jesus, what the fu— _”

“SOMETHING’S HAPPENING IN THE FOOTBALL FIELD!!!”

“_ Alright, alright, calm down, Yeojin. What’s happening?? _”

“I-I don’t have time to explain, just run there before it gets worse!!”

She quickly hung up before cursing under her breath and grabbing the microphone on the desk that connected to the school’s speakers. Yeojin definitely was going to get in trouble for this but that was the least of her concerns right now. 

“Stay away from the sports field. The track team is under the influence of— of something dangerous. Detective Jeon and Kim are on the school grounds right now and are handling the situation so please sit tight.” Yeojin announced before turning off the speakers, not actually knowing if the two detectives were handling the situation. If they weren’t even aware beforehand, they were now.

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


“What do you mean you lost your phone?” Hyunijn gave Heejin a weird look, as if she said the dumbest thing ever. 

“Listen. I was literally just walking out of the bathroom and then boom! I bumped into some girl who was in a hurry or something.”

“So what you’re saying is…you dropped your phone after that and couldn’t find it?”

“Exactly! I don’t wanna think of the worse case scenario.”

“Like?” Hyunjin arched an eyebrow.

“My phone being stolen.”

“…hate to break it to you, but that’s probably what happened. I mean, how else would it have disappeared after you dropped it? You and Jiheon saw the badge, so the phone should’ve been noticeable, too.”

“Ugh, I guess you have a point.”

“See when I’m right, Jeon?” She let out an evil smirk towards her partner, who menacingly glared at her. 

“This is a serious matter, Kim! What if I never see my phone again??”

“It’s not the end of the world, ass hat. Just get a new one and ask Yeojin or Chaewon to get all your data back, if possible. Did you have any important information in there?”

“No, but—”

“There you go.”

“That still doesn’t help at all!”

“Shit happens, Jeon. Let’s just ask Yeojin and see if she caught that girl on the CCTV camera.” Just then, Hyunjin’s phone began ringing a Mario Kart theme song, which caught both of the detectives’ attentions. Heejin giggled at the silly choice of ringtone she had for Yeojin.

“Ah, speak of the devil, she’s calling me right now.” There was a hint of grimace in Hyunjin’s face, but she picked up the call anyways. “Why are you calling—”

“_ HYUNJIN UNNIE!! _” Yeojin hollered on the other side, startling the older girl to the point where she put some distance between her ear and phone. 

“Oh jesus, what the fu—”

“_ SOMETHING’S HAPPENING IN THE FOOTBALL FIELD!!! _” Both of them shared a look, now highly alerted. Thanks to Yeojin’s loud voice, Heejin was able to hear what she shouted. Hyunjin then attempted to ease the young hacker. 

“Alright, alright, calm down, Yeojin. What’s happening??”

“_ I-I don’t have time to explain, just run their before it gets worse!! _”

The call suddenly went dead. Hyunjin checked to see what happened and realized Yeojin had hung up. She’d never heard the young girl sound so frantic before, thus making this situation a lot more serious than it sounded. Hyunjin and Heejin were about to dash towards the sports field, until the school bell sounded. The announcement was coming on. 

“_ Stay away from the sports field. The track team is under the influence of—of something dangerous. Detective Jeon and Kim are on the school grounds right now and are handling the situation so please sit tight _.”

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow, confused as to why Yeojin made such a sudden broadcast. The two detectives shared a look as soon as the announcement rang out before Hyunjin took out her phone and texted Yeojin to call for backup. Wasting no more time, the two detectives dashed out of the cafeteria and to the football fields. They slipped here and there, nearly ran into objects and people, as well as slightly injured themselves, but that wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Hyunijn and Heejin raced across the campus as fast as they could, not slowing down one bit. Whatever was happening in the football fields right now definitely sounded serious and the suspense only grew the closer they reached their destination.

And by the time the duo finally arrived, it was absolute chaos, like a war zone but somewhat worse. The grasses were torn up and the ground was dug up, kids all over the bleachers despite the taped off area, some were still playing catch with the water fountain, and basketballs flying in all directions. But most importantly, the coach was nowhere to be seen. 

“O-oh my god….” Heejin’s mouth agape as she witnessed the mess before her eyes.

“You could say that again…. If I die out there, I was the one who stole class 3’s donuts in police academy.”

“What?! That was you? Chaewon was so excited to eat those!” Heejin exclaimed, but before she could say anything more, Hyunjin had barged into the field through the fence.

Heejin chased after her and grabbed her hand before leading them right behind the bleachers to take cover. She was afraid to be handling a whole field of exhilarating people who were way stronger than they were supposed to be. 

However, the track team were too hyper that they didn’t even notice the addition of two people that just entered. Hyunjin gulped. They all had glowing purple eyes, like the boy who fainted. It must’ve been what Yena’s eyes looked like under the mask. 

“Their eyes!” Heejin pointed out.

“Holy shit, just like the football guy.”

“This—whatever this is, has to be handled very carefully! It’s like when Yena beat the crap out of us.”

“You really have to bring up our worst moment as an example?!”

“What?? It’s a perfect example! Anyways, now that we know we can’t piss them off, what’s the plan?”

“We have to round them up in some place where they can stay. I can’t guarantee if they’ll be safe, but it’s definitely better than out here.”

“Well then we need a solution before we actually do anything because no point getting hurt again and staying in the hospital even longer. Where is a place big enough inside to hold all of them until this wears off?”

“Ok um…oh!” Heejin’s eyes lit up and pointed her index finger up when she got an idea. 

“What??”

“I have an idea, but we have to act quick.”

“I _ know _, Jeon! They’re literally wrecking the place so hurry up and tell me!”

“The gym! I’m going to need you to open the double doors and stand in front of them.” Heejin said in a hushed voice.

“Are you insane?!” Hyunjin hissed.

“Just trust me, alright?”

“Wait, what’re you gonna do??”

“Just hurry! Time’s running out!”

Groaning, Hyunjin sighed heavily and nodded before Heejin offered a small smile and took off, running behind one of the bleachers. Hyunjin did as she was told, her heart beating rapidly in her chest out of fear. Taking a deep breath, Heejin sprinted into the middle of chaos. Only then she noticed all of the Gatorade bottles littered on the ground. The detective’s eyes went wide, realizing that was what made the track members become like this. But Heejin quickly refocused her attention back on getting the students into the gym where they can stay for the time being. 

“Hey everyone!!” The detective tensed up when they all immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at her with bright, eerie purple eyes. Whatever she had to say to them better be something worth hearing. “U-uhー WOAH! IS THAT DETECTIVE KIM IN THE GYMNASIUM?!” Heejin shouted before diving behind the closest bleachers. Her announcement worked since all of their faces immediately lit up and they quickly descended to the location. 

Heejin followed them behind, trying her best to keep the crowd going in one direction so they don’t wander off somewhere and wreck more havoc. Luckily, she was able to have them in one mob without provoking them in anyway, now all she had to worry about was Hyunjin as they neared closer to the gym. The older detective reached for her pocket to text her partner what was coming but quickly reminded herself that she was practically robbed of her phone, therefore, renders her from contacting anyone. But thankfully, Hyunjin already got that problem covered. Not long after Heejin gathered the track team, the gym was finally in their view and Hyunjin was just standing there watching with wide eyes. 

“Oh boy.”

She barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid the stampede of faster than they were supposed to be. Just as the track team arrived by the entrance, the duo quickly guided them inside before shutting the doors behind them as soon as the very last person was inside, Hyunjin frantically locked the entryway. 

“That should hold them off till everyone gets here. Yeojin told me lieutenant Im and Haseul, so they’ll be here soon.”

“Alright. Now we just have to hold them off till we see them.”

The doors to the gym began pounding and voices came from inside, which alerted them that the track members were trying to break out. The track team’s calls for muffled, but it was clear that they were demanding to be released this instance. Hyunjin and Heejin tried their best to keep the door steady, pushing their weight onto the hard surface to prevent it from falling. They didn’t know how much longer they can hold this off, due to their injuries, but nonetheless, they were determined.

“We should hold this until they’re too tired and pass out!” Hyunjin yelled out while struggling to keep the door still. 

“Be careful not strain a muscle, I’m starting to feel sore after all that running to get here.”

“I’m fine. By the way, did you see Yujin run with her teammates??” That was when it struck Heejin. She had forgotten Hyunjin’s cousin was also apart of the track team.

“Uh……I don’t think so….”

“What do you mean ‘you don’t think so’?” The younger detective’s stern eyes felt like it was staring at her soul. The situation was even scarier when she heard Hyunjin’s dark tone. Heejin had no idea how to bring this up to Hyunjin without her freaking out, well aware that she and Yujin are very close. 

“I don’t think I saw her….”

Hyunjin ran off right after her partner admitted her mistake as Heejin quickly followed close behind. The older detective tried to stop her, but it was no use. Everytime Heejin would try to grab her elbow, the other girl immediately shook off the contact, clearly angry. Heejin tried a few more attempts until she finally had enough. 

“Kim!!” Hyunjin stopped dead in her tracks to turn around and glare at her partner. “Look, I know you’re mad at me, but we can still find Yujin.”

“Oh yeah? You wanna find her in this school?? Do you have any idea how big the campus is?! She could be _ anywhere _!” 

“You’re not _ thinking _, Kim! Just imagine what place could she have last been seen in before all hell broke out?” 

Heejin spoke calmly and was relieved Hyunjin visibly softened her frowning as she went silent. With that being said, the two stood there and hypothesized together while the bangings on the gym doors were still prevalent, therefore, they had to think fast. Before they took any longer, it was then when the thought suddenly clicked in Hyunjin’s head. And by the looks of it, Heejin seemed to have gotten the same idea as well. 

“You thinking what I’m thinking, Jeon?”

“Usually I’d reply saying I’m not a psychic, but….” Heejin mused before slowly averting her direction towards the girl’s locker room. And sure enough, Hyunjin was looking at it as well.

“Hm. The front door is still open.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to check. You with me, Kim?”

“Let’s go.” 

Without anymore words, the duo booked it to the girl’s locker room and entered the empty place. They both had a bad feeling about this, but there was no time to lose. Those kids were very persistent on breaking the doors down so it was unpredictable as to when they succeed in doing exactly that. 

Moving around the room, Heejin investigated one side and Hyunjin with the other. After minutes of searching here and there, the young detective finally encountered Yujin’s open locker at the very corner in the back. Hyunjin quietly called out to Heejin, which was fortunately heard when she saw her partner walk up to where she was standing. At the locker, they saw Yujin’s jacket and jeans neatly folded on the bench, seemingly waiting to be stored away into the locker, her backpack shoved inside the small space, and a Gatorade bottle on the floor…with purple liquid leaking out into a puddle. 

“I saw these bottles littered in the field. I'm assuming that's what made the kids like this.” Heejin muttered. 

“The coach must’ve slipped the purple stuff inside then.”

"You might be right, he was probably carrying those in the cart, saying it was a surprise." 

"Oh, it was a surprise, all right." 

They noticed how it was splattered onto other lockers and around the bench, thus assumed that Yujin had dropped the bottle after consuming the liquid. They both exchanged knowing looks, figuring that the young athlete was definitely somewhere in here.

“I might have an idea how to find her." Hyunjin suggested, a mischievous look in her eye. The two were standing in front of the doors to the showers now, maybe a foot or two from the double doors.

“Like what?”

“You’ll see.” Hyunjin took a deep breath before shouting. “Hey Jeon! Did you know that when Yujin was 5, she stuck a battery up her nose??” Hyunjin said loudly, cupping her hands around her mouth to make a makeshift megaphone. “**AHN YUJIIIN!!!**”

Afterwards, the older detective removed her hands and set them down as they both waited in silence. Suspenseful seconds passed by and Heejin arched an eyebrow at Hyunjin, who wordlessly told her to wait. Heejin had no idea what was going on nor what to expect and she didn’t like it at all. Just then, footsteps began echoing in the locker room, startling the duo. They frantically looked around to find where the noise was coming from as it got louder and rather closer. Before they knew it, the footsteps were clearly coming from the big shower. Suddenly, a familiar scream of embarrassment sounded, getting louder and louder.

"**uuu** **nnnn** **iii** **eee** **ee** **EEEE** **EEEE** **EEE!!!!!!!!!**"

Hyunjin and Heejin barely had time to realize that they were standing right in front of the doors where the echoing came from, the entrance flies open like an explosion just went off, sending the two detectives flying across the room and landing on the hard, flat ground. Yujin barged through the doors with so much strength and speed that they broke off. The athlete stood with a huge smile and hollered at the top of the lungs while her arms were still in the air fist pumping.

“I know I said it wouldn’t hurt to check the locker room…I take that back.” 

Heejin coughed profusely while clutching onto her stomach in pain, grimacing as she tried to calm herself down. Yujin rushed forward to the fallen heap that was Hyunjin, concern etched on the features framing her glowing purple eyes.

“Oh my god, unnie! I’m so sorry, are you guys okay?” Yujin dashed forward and gripped onto Hyunijn’s shoulders, holding her up in the air. It took awhile for her to realize, but the older girl was wincing during the process. Yujin simply wanted to help her up. “Oh god I’m sorry!” She exclaimed before dropping Hyunjin, who let out a pained groan, and backing away. 

“Yujin. Yujin stay still.” Heejin tried, slowly making her way past Yujin and towards the crumpled heap that was her partner. “Kim. Kim. Are you alright?” Heejin asked worriedly, moving her partner’s hair away from her face. Hyunjin groaned before nodding slightly and sitting up. Relieved, Heejin helped her up to her feet, before facing the young athlete before them. 

“Unnie! I feel so strong like Superwoman and fast QuickSilver! Look!” Before they could give a proper response, Yujin lifted a bench 10 times her size with one hand like it was a mere feather. Frantically, Hyunjin intervened and held her hands up protectively. 

“W-whoa! Yujin, put that down!”

“You’re gonna hurt yourself!”

“I’m invincible~!!”

In the blink of an eye, Yujin suddenly wrapped her arms around both of their hips and gave them an uncomfortably tight bear hug. She hopped around and laughed while they struggled to break free and their bones felt like they were about to break. Heejin yelped, desperately clung onto the athlete’s shoulder for dear life while Hyunjin had her hand around her arm, trying to pry her off. It was a difficult 5 minute struggle until Hyunjin finally had enough. 

“Yujin!! Let us go!”

“OKAY~!”

Yujin did exactly as she was told and set them down on the bench, not so carefully, of course. The two detectives sat with audible thumps, which only worsened their pain. They both groaned, but luckily, it was something they could endure. Looking up, Hyunjin saw how jittery and hyper her cousin was. Yujin was very young so Hyunjin had no idea if she could handle whatever the purple liquid was called. Paranoia was settling in the more the detective thought deeply about it, she couldn’t shake off the feeling that the worst case scenario could, or would, happen. 

Afterwards, Yujin couldn’t stay still. She felt so hyper she was almost literally bouncing off the walls. Yujin didn’t even realize the damage she was leaving in her wake: dents in the lockers, snapping the wood of the benches, and cracking the tiles of the locker room floor. The thought of her accidentally hurting the two detective prodigies didn’t quiet register in her head, in fact, she couldn’t focus on anything at all, other than running around.

“We need to knock her out before she seriously hurts anyone or herself.” Hyunjin muttered, jumping back onto her feet and immediately regretting the sudden motion. 

“How are we gonna do that without hurting ourselves even more? She’s literally wrecking this place up and sent us across the room like it was nothing. Yujin’s basically possessed.” Heejin hissed, grabbing Hyunjin by her arms to steady her partner. 

“Which is why I have an idea. Won’t guarantee this will work, but it’ll be long enough till Yujin passes out.” With a sigh, Heejin gave in and leaned closer to hear whatever plan her partner had come up with.

  
  
  
  


-

  
  


After minutes of preparing and gearing up in the storage room, the two detective hastily found Yujin, who was still wrecking things in her path. Hyunjin and Heejin stood there with armored shoulder and chest pads used in football, knees and elbow caps, and thick sports gloves, with some additional protective football helmets. The two dorks stare at the sight before sharing a look. In a few seconds, with silent wishes of luck exchanged through their eyes, they nodded to each other. Standing a safe distance from Yujin’s locker, Heejin called out to the young athlete. 

“Yujin~ there’s a surprise in your locker!” 

“YAAAAAY~!” It wasn’t even five seconds before the sound of cracking tile rang as Yujin approached the locker. 

Just as they prepare, the two detectives braced themselves. The young girl opened her locker in such an excited manner that the door broke off. She didn’t even notice that she discarded the barrier to the side. And by discarding it, Yujin tossed the door with so much strength that it flew towards the duo like a cannonball. Fortunately for them, Hyunjin and Heejin were quick enough to react and swiftly dodged the flying door that intersected between them at a deadly speed. Upon impact, the rectangular metal sliced through the walls. The two detectives were now on the floor with their arms over their heads to protect themselves from the debris. Hyunjin quickly stood up and looked through the spot that the door penetrated as her eyes widened when she saw the numerous amount of layers it flew through. 

“Hey…I don’t see any—AGH!” Heejin tackled Yujin to the ground and grabbed hold of her legs, keeping her in place, or attempting to. 

“Kim!! A little help here??!” Her loud voice was strained while Yujin tried to release herself from Heejin’s grip. 

While the older detective tried her best to hold Yujin’s legs in place, Hyunjin quickly sprang into action, kneeling beside Yujin and keep her arms at bay. It was a futile effort as they both immediately grew tired trying to match their strength with the young athlete’s combined. She nearly broke out of their hold several times, but that didn’t stop them from trying to keep her down. 

“Stop—trying to free yourself, Yujin! We’re doing this—for your own good!” Hyunjin’s sentence was constantly cut off while she struggled to stop Yujin from breaking free. 

“But it’s not helping!!” She argued with her older cousin while arching her back and groaning in pain, her frown clearly showing her distress. The effect was starting to wear off.

In the heat of the moment, Yujin freed one of her legs from Heejin’s grasp and kicked her chest, sending her sliding across the room. But thanks to the chest pad, Heejin only had minor injuries from it, though to her horror, Yujin’s kick completely rendered the sports gear useless since it had shattered to pieces. Heejin quickly took the chest plate off before running back to assist her partner, though being really careful this time. Having a new strategy, Hyunjin used her whole body to put weight on Yujin so she would have a harder time freeing herself from the duo’s grasp. Seeing this, Heejin proceeded to sit on the young athlete’s legs to keep her from squirming. Finally, Yujin’s movements became slower and softer as she was progressively succumbed to unconsciousness. When her eyes closed, the detectives immediately released their grip on her as Hyunjin checked her pulse, sighing in relief when she felt a beat. 

“Well your plan kind of worked…just not the way I thought it would.” Heejin commented, using the locker handles to get to her feet again. 

“That’s why you should listen to me—“

“Hyunjin? Heejin? Are you two in here—oh goodness…did you knock out that poor child!?” Haseul asked, busting through the double doors that lead into the locker room, a taser clutched tightly with both hands as her widened at the sight of Yujin passed out on the ground. “And what the hell are you guys wearing??” Heejin quickly pointed fingers.

“It was Kim’s idea!” 

“Wait—no!! This is my cousin! She was on the purple substance or whatever so we had to wear protective gears!”

As Hyunjin protested and glared at Heejin, Nayeon appeared behind Haseul with an evidence kit in hand. The lieutenant surveyed the area around her just as she entered, utterly petrified by the mess in the locker room. Benches misplaced, noticing how the screws were pulled out from the ground, lockers heavily dented foot and handprints, debris everywhere, and a giant scar in the wall. 

“So…you’re saying all of _ this _ was because of her?” Nayeon pointed to Yujin, to which the two detectives nodded their heads in response.

“Long story. But I swear, Yujin is fine. I checked her pulse.” With this, Haseul sighed and set down her taser in hand. 

“Geez…poor kid. There’re many teams of paramedics on their way. But be gentler next time, Detective Kim.” Nayeon said, shaking her head. Heejin hid her laugh with a coughing fit, and Hyunjin groaned.

  
  


-

  
  


After Nayeon’s team and Haseul called in more backups, the two young detectives were on their way back to their stations through taxi. It has been a long day for them while they were at the high school and the duo were waiting to finally finish the mission once they’re done with their last curfews. Heejin was close to knocking out since she hasn’t slept in hours so a nap sounded pretty good right now.

“Are you coming with me to give this badge to Saerom?” Hyunjin asked, glancing over at her partner who was half asleep in the backseat with her. 

“No, I’ll have to pass. I need to file all the paperwork for this case and head back to the hospital.”

“Oh right, that.”

“Don’t tell me you forgot, Kim.” Heejin chuckled drowsily at her partner while still facing the front. 

“Whatever. I’m sure Jiho wouldn’t mind.”

“Don’t expect me to cover for you.” Her smirk irritated Hyunjin, even she knows her partner was joking. 

“Oh don’t flatter yourself, I wasn’t expecting in the first place.” It was her turn to smirk this time, which earned a snarl from Heejin. 

The rest of the ride to Saerom’s station was oddly, but peacefully silent. Surprisingly enough, the two didn’t argue or traded insults towards each other like they usually do. Maybe this whole partner idea was warming up to them, but unsure whether or not it was because they were starting to become friends that are mean to each other often. Heejin was too tired to even think about anything but sleep while Hyunjin examined the badge in her hand. She the owner’s name again and wondered where exactly she’d heard that name before. 

_ Song Hayoung…just who are you?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit's about to get real


	13. The Mole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW!! Lots of violence up ahead!

By the time the taxi finally arrived to Hyunjin’s destination, Heejin was already fast asleep. It amused the younger girl since her partner barely stayed awake during their whole car ride. Hyunjin was tempted to pinch her nose and cheek but knew she wouldn’t be alive if Heejin woke up because of that.

“Hey Jeon, wake up. We’re here.” Hyunjin nudged shoulder, stirring her somewhat awake.

“Hm…? Oh, thanks.” Heejin said, opening the door and stepping out of the car. Before shutting the door, however, she turned to face Hyunjin one last time. “Be careful.”

Hyunjin barely got to nod before the taxi started driving off to her old station. Good thing Heejin left so suddenly, otherwise she would’ve seen the slight blush that dusted Hyunjin’s cheeks. She shook her head to snap out of it and instead paid attention to the drive to Saerom’s station. 

Upon arriving, she paid her price to the driver and stood in front of the very familiar building before her, feeling the nostalgia hit her as the taxi wheeled away. It felt good to be back. Walking up the stairs to the entrance, she knocked on the door. A few seconds later Hyunjin heard keys jingling before it opened, revealing a surprised Nakyung. 

“HYUN!”

“Nakyungie~~” Hyunjin went in for a hug, which was gladly returned by the shorter girl. 

“What’re you doing here?? Skippin’ on your mission, old pal?”

“Very funny. I just finished, fyi.”

“Ah, well that must’ve been a lot of fun.” Nakyung smiled in a teasing manner as Hyunjin narrowed her eyes at her small friend.

“I have to talk to Saerom about something so can I come in?”

“What’s the password?”

“Wh— password?? What do you mean password?”

“_ Password _, Hyun. What else?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know?”

“Then you can’t come in.” She stuck out her tongue at Hyunjin, who narrowed her eyes at her irritating friend.

“Uh…bread.”

“God I forgot how obsessed you are with that.”

“Gee, you’re such an amazing friend.” Hyunjin sarcastically remarked. 

“I know right?”

“Hm…I think I know the password.”

“Well spill!”

“‘Chaeyoung is my universe.’”

“How the fu—”

“_ Anyways _.”

Hyunjin quickly cut Nakyung off and walked inside without any further discussion. Nakyung rolled her eyes playfully before walking back to her desk and play games since she had nothing else to do. One of the Saerom's station members, Minkyung, giggled at their small banter and greeted Hyunjin, who waved back. 

Her conversation with Nakyung lasted longer than she anticipated but it was better than talking to her on Twitter all the time. When the detective finally found Saerom, she was busy making a call with someone. Hyunjin tried not to eavesdrop and give her former captain some space, but the conversation was rather interesting. 

“You know, it’s been a while since we last hung out. I know we have a lot of work to do and all, but if you’re ever free, let’s catch up!” Saerom made a dopey smile. “Yeah of course, I’m kinda free whenever, sorta…I know some places we both might enjoy……oh you don’t have to worry at all, I can pay…please~ I insist.” This time, Nakyung was also tuning in on the conversation as she arched an eyebrow. Luckily, Saerom had her back facing them so she didn’t notice Hyunjin and Nakyung eavesdropping her. “Aw, alright…no, it’s ok! You should finish your work and rest. I have stuff to do as well…ok, bye Seulie~”

  
  


_ HASEUL? _

  
  


Hyunjin choked on air while Nakyung almost did a spit-take with the water she just drank from her bottle. Minkyung sits at her desk with her head perked up having no idea what was going on before quickly going to Nakyung's side to help her. This definitely alerted Saerom since she swiftly turned around and noticed Hyunjin awkwardly standing right behind her desk while Nakyung struggling to keep the water in her mouth as Minkyung patted her back. Saerom narrowed her eyes at both of them before glaring at Hyunjin. 

"You were eavesdropping me, weren't you?" 

"Iーwell, I didn't mean to but it was tempting. I'm sorry." To this Saerom sighed and brushed it off, knowing Hyunjin is already aware of her crushー

"Anywho, why'd you come here without notice, Hyunnie? Didn’t expect you to drop by." The captain slightly pouted before smiling, which earned a chuckle. 

"Actually, there's something urgently important that we need to discuss. Can we talk?”

"How important is it?" 

"Very." Hyunjin leaned a bit closer so she could whisper to Saerom. "It involves Jiheon." 

"What?? What happened? What did she do? Why does it involveー"

"Saerom, Saerom! Calm down, let me explain."

"Christ, you're scaring me, Hyun. Let's go outside then." 

Nonetheless, the two walked outside and closed the glass door behind them before they walked a little farther from the entrance. Saerom arched an eyebrow when Hyunjin gently pulled her by the elbow and guided them away. However, seeing her serious expression, the captain realized this was something she had to listen to. She knew that expression anywhere and that meant Hyunjin wasn’t joking. 

“Seriously what’s going on, Hyun? You’re sweating bullets or something.”

“Well one, because it’s really hot right now. And two, I’m a little nervous.”

“I should be the one calming you down.” Saerom mused before placing her hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder. “Now tell me, what’s up?”

The detective’s hand instinctively went to grip the badge in her pocket. Saerom followed the action with her eyes before gesturing for Hyunjin to step closer to her. Rummaging through her pocket, Hyunjin took out the badge that Heejin had handed to her before they left Seoul high school. After finding it, she held the badge out to show Saerom. Instead of the usual confused response she always received, Hyunjin was meant with an odd, eerie silence. 

This was new, usually Saerom would tell her she doesn’t know or waves her off and goes back to work. Setting the badge down, Hyunjin’s confusion instantly turned concerned and worried when she saw a tear leave Saerom’s eye. She noticed how her former captain’s glance followed the badge as Hyunjin set it away. Saerom quickly grabbed onto her wrist and carefully took the badge from Hyunjin’s hand. She stared at it for a brief moment and the young detective decided to give her a moment, placing her hand on Saerom’s arm as she rubbed it to comfort her. Hyunjin never expected this to happen but assumably, whoever that was must’ve been really important for both Saerom and Jiheon to cry over it just by a glance. 

“This badge…i-it— belonged to my best friend.”

“_ Oh _. Um…Heejin found this and it made Jiheon cry too…she told us to give it to you.” Saerom cleared her throat and took a deep breath. It looked like she was about to break. “…w-who exactly was Hayoung?”

“……I don’t feel like explaining…but she was in my friend group, along with Haseul and Sooyoung…Hayoung was amazing, funny, and just… the sweetest girl ever. She was so selfless that it hurt to think—” Saerom slowly broke down into a soft sob and Hyunjin was quick to hug her, arms securely around her waist. 

“Unnie…if this it too much, you don’t have to talk about it anymore. It’s ok….” Saerom returned the embrace, though slightly weaker than. 

“I just…I miss her…and I know Jiheon does as well. Hayoung was basically our sister.”

“Wait so…Hayoung is really…?” Feeling her heart clench when Saerom gingerly took the badge into her hands with a look that she’s rarely, or never, seen on the older girl before.

“Hayoung, she…she died years ago.” 

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


Meanwhile, back in Saerom’s station, Nakyung and Minkyung were going on about their time at their desks. Nakyung was grinning at her phone as she texted Chaeyoung, who had forced Seoyeon to go get take out food during some time in the day. The small technician set aside her phone before going back onto her computer to do some “work”. Nakyung opened up her emails and looked at a file complaint that was assigned to her to fill out for the patient. She briefly scanned it through with some disinterest in hers before shrugging and going back onto her phone, feeling like she can finish the complaint later. Nakyung went back on her phone and proceeded to continue texting Chaeyoung. As Nakyung continued chatting with her girlfriend, Minkyung walked over to the vending machine that was right across the entrance to the station. She took out a coin from her wallet and used it to buy a can of soda. Satisfied with this, Minkyung smiles before opening it and taking a sip, easily relaxing once she tasted the familiar sweetness. She was just about to walk to her desk when her eyes suddenly stopped at Hyunjin and Saerom talking outside. 

Minkyung raised an eyebrow when she saw her captain in tears and Hyunjin comforting her. Before she realized it, she froze in her spot when she saw Saerom holding a certain badge belonging to someone very familiar. That was when Minkyung slowly lowered her can of soda from her mouth before setting it on a counter. Nakyung was scrolling through Twitter when she noticed Minkyung’s odd expression. She looked…totally different and oddly surprised at something, but knowing Hyunjin and Saerom were currently outside discussing whatever, Nakyung realized that seemed to really catch Minkyung’s attention and she barely masked her surprise when she spotted the badge. 

With a moment’s contemplation, Minkyung started to edge closer to Saerom and Hyunjin as sneakily as she could. Not sneakily enough though, because Nakyung noticed her suspicious movements, so she texted Chaeyoung about the situation.

She only had enough time to tell Chaeyoung to call Haseul and more backup, despite knowing her girlfriend’s worried texts, because there was something eerily off with Minkyung, whom she'd known for almost 2 years now, and she was sensing horribly bad vibes from this suspicious behavior exhibited. 

Nakyung quickly thought of ways to handle this situation. She could either text Hyunjin and Saerom but pretend she's messaging Chaeyoung. However, that couldn't work because they were too busy outside. Nakyung disregarded that idea since she already informed about her girlfriend about it. Another option she came up with was to ask Minkyung what's wrong. But knowing this vibe, there was absolutely no time for questioning. And thus, Nakyung resorted to the last option: dash to the storage room and arm herself with something. She was well aware Minkyung was an extremely skilled fighter, even Saerom would be overwhelmed sometimes. The thought freaked Nakyung out. 

Carefully, in order not to be noticed, she slowly rotated her chair, until a squeak suddenly sounded, to which she cursed to herself for it. She felt Minkyung's attention immediately averting to her so Nakyung swiftly picked up her phone and laughed at it. She tried to make it convincing that she was watching some funny video while rotating back and forward in her chair. When Minkyung looked towards Saerom and Hyunjin outside again, Nakyung carefully looked over her phone, setting it slightly below her eyes. Seeing the other girl was distracted again, Nakyung then pretended to drop her pen and got off her chair so she could crouch behind her desk. She got into ready position to dash away and quickly head for the storage room. Nakyung carefully peeked from behind her desk, seeing Minkyung slowly walking towards the door to spy on Hyunjin and Saerom at a closer view. This basically set off an alarm in Nakyung and with that, she swiftly but quietly sprinted out of the office and disappeared behind the doors before heading straight towards the storage room. 

Minkyung was too busy spying to even notice where Nakyung ran off to. When she heard Hyunjin suggest they go back inside the station, Minkyung immediately walked away like nothing she wasn't just trying to eavesdrop on their rather private conversation. When she looked back Nakyung's desk, she was quick to notice the girl had disappeared. Minkyung frantically scanned the office to try and find where the technician went. Then, her cold stare locked onto the double doors, one of them still moving. Just by the looks of it, Minkyung knew exactly where Nakyung was now so she quickly walked towards the doors and disappeared behind it. Right then, Hyunjin and Saerom entered the station, completely unaware of what just happened. 

  
  


-

  
  


In the storage room, Nakyung wasn't well trained in using pistols so she settled on using the baton instead. She prayed that all her years of training in combat during the academy was worth it for a moment like this. Taking a deep breath, she was mentally prepared herself to deal with this problem alone. She could only hope Hyunjin and Saerom will notice that she'd been gone for awhile and find her. Just when the technician was ready, Nakyung heard the door creak as it slowly opened, which sent chills down her spine. Trembling, she cautiously turned her head to her side and glanced at the door. 

With her baton in both hands, Nakyung took ginger steps towards the door and once she was close enough, she quickly pushed them open while tightly gripping onto her weapon in case something, or someone, jumped at her. But nothing was behind the door, to Nakyung's utter relief. After shrugging it off, she turned around to put the baton back on the shelf, only to suddenly pump into someone much taller than her. The small technician stumble back a few steps before looking up to see who it was. To her luck, Minkyung was towering over her with unusual cold, empty eyes that seemed it was staring at her soul. Nakyung barely had time to react properly when a strong arm tightly wrapped around her neck in a choke hold, squeezing out all the air in her throat. Without wasting anymore time, Minkyung stepped out of the storage and back into the office, all while the younger girl still had the baton in her hand. Hyunjin and Saerom were still talking about Hayoung’s badge when Nakyung laid her eyes on her two friends. She struggled to call for them but it was able to grab their attention since she made a little noise. Upon seeing this, the two quickly became alerted by this and Saerom was first to speak. 

“What the f— Minkyung! What are you doing??”

“Give me that badge, in exchange for her life.” Hyunjin and Saerom shared a look before averting their attention back to her, completely petrified.

“The hell are you talking about??” The young detective interrogated.

“That badge!! It doesn’t belong to you.”

“…sure as hell doesn’t belong to you either, Minkyung.” Saerom’s eyes glared menacingly at her. Whatever this matter was about, she was absolutely not having it. 

“Yeah. It’s not mine, but that is strictly private property,” She commented with an ominous smirk and tightened her grip on Nakyung. 

“Minkyung. Why?” Hyunjin asked through gritted teeth, also glaring at her.

“I have the right to remain silent.” She growled while wearing a harsh scowl on her usually soft features, which set them way off. Has she always been like this underneath? 

Seeing this, Hyunjin grabbed Saerom’s arm, catching her attention. The captain looked at her former junior and noticed how worried she was about her best friend. Nakyung was her best friend, but so was Hayoung. Therefore, Saerom quickly thought out a plan before sighing and held up the badge to Minkyung. The tall fighter quickly took the opportunity and immediately released Nakyung, pushing her towards Hyunjin before snatching the badge away. However, Saerom didn’t let this go without a fight. Just when the valuable object was off her hand, she gripped onto Minkyung’s wrist and slammed her onto the wall, making her drop the badge. Hyunjin and Nakyung were shocked by this because it’s been forever since they’ve seen Saerom in action. They immediately knew what to do. The detective motioned Nakyung to give her the badge so she could it to Saerom while she helped her keep Minkyung pinned on the wall. Hyunjin was about to put on handcuffs when the taller girl coughed and gasped for air.

“Let me use my inhaler.” Minkyung quietly requested as she struggled to get some oxygen in her lungs. She seemingly gave up trying to break free. 

They both slowly let go of her, tense and ready to fight if the situation arose. Right after she was out of their grasp, Minkyung quickly walked over to her desk and opened her cabinet. She took a moment to rummage around before taking the inhaler, staring at it briefly before her eyes directed towards the three people in the room who were at a safe distance from her. Hyunjin narrowed her eyes at this and slowly, but carefully reached for the pistol under her coat, grateful that she was standing behind Saerom so Minkyung couldn’t see this. The other girl, however, glanced at the three of them before slowly smirking. That when they knew, they made a horrible mistake for trusting Minkyung. 

Before they could react at all, she removed the canister from her asthma inhaler and opened the cap, revealing a heavy concentrated mist of deep blue color. Minkyung inhaled the smoke in one go, choking out a puff of it while trying to keep her balance and not pass out from the sudden surge of adrenaline and vitality inside her. This was something Hyunjin was all too familiar with: this had to be related to purple liquid she saw in Seoul High school, only it was now_ airborne _. From her experiences, that blue color was a death sentence. While Minkyung began twitching, Hyunjin guided Saerom stay away further from the traitor in front of them, still hesitant to take out her pistol. Once the twitching and fidgeting stopped, Minkyung froze before gradually lifting her head up to reveal her blue eyes. She didn't stop smirking one bit. 

"Holy hell…." Saerom was completely horrified by this as she too was aware of this. "The odd eye color…." 

Hyunjin took her eyes off on Minkyung for a split second to look at her former captain before glancing back, only to see that the tall girl was nowhere to be found. Then, Hyunjin was suddenly kicked in the stomach, sending her flying 10 feet away from she previously stood. Saerom and Nakyung also found themselves on the ground in a millisecond, not even catching a single glimpse of Minkyung's movements at all. Hyunjin clutched her stomach in pain and choked on her air. Saerom quickly got up to her feet and equipped the baton that Nakyung had dropped on the floor, while she tried to match Minkyung's swift movements, the badge was missing. The captain cursed to herself for not holding onto it tight enough and letting the valuable object slip out of her grasp. 

Out of the blue, Minkyung stopped right in front of Saerom, as if trying to intimidate her. The older girl, however, felt the opposite and was rather offended Minkyung dared to smirk at her like that. Saerom swung her baton, which was easily dodged and a jab drilled to her side. Despite the grueling pain on her waist, the captain still stood her ground and quickly tackled Minkyung against her own desk, knocking down all of her belongings. On the other side of the room, Nakyung rushed to Hyunjin's side. 

"Hyunnie! You alright?? A kick like that could leave a nasty bruise for weeks."

"Ugh…I'm fine, thanks for the input." She sarcastically remarked while slightly glaring at Nakyung. 

"We gotta help Saerom out! I'll call Chaeyoung right now." 

"Tell her and Seoyeon to get back quick! We need all the help we can because Minkyung is much more stronger than Yena." 

With the being said, Hyunjin quickly stood up with Nakyung's help before rushing forward to help Saerom out. But by the time she arrived, Minkyung kneed the captain in her stomach and slammed her elbow on her spine, which completely released her from Saerom's grasp. Shocked by this, Hyunjin strategized as a chair caught her eye. She hopped onto it, flying in the air with her first raised as she aimed towards Minkyung's face. Upon witnessing this, the traitor smirked before catching Hyunjin in midair, just as her knuckles were about to meet her face. The detective didn't have time to process what had just happened when Minkyung fiercely swung her over, causing her back to severely slam through the desk, obliterating the furniture to piles of wood.

Meanwhile, Saerom got up from the floor while that just happened. Her eyes followed Hyunjin somewhat unconscious in the now destroyed desk, shocked at the sight since it took a lot to strength to pull off a move like that. Either that or the desk was weaker than she thought. But knowing the situation, it was definitely what she first assumed. Now all Saerom had to focus was not end up in the hospital after this since it was just her one on one with Minkyung for now. The taller fighter launched the first move when she swung her fist to connect to Saerom's face, only for it to miss. Saerom instinctively ducked from the jab and landed a punch on Minkyung’s cheek and breaking the skin on her lip. Despite all the strength Saerom used, it was barely enough to make her flinch. Minkyung grabbed hold of her wrist before wrapping her hand tightly around her neck, pinning the captain against wall with a slam. 

“How does it feel now, hm? Being restrained against the wall?” Minkyung choked her tighter. Saerom coughed as she tried to pry the hand off of her neck while attempting the tall girl. However, her vision was progressively dwindling and she began to get weaker.

Saerom nearly passed out right then and there, but Hyunjin didn’t let that happen and struck Minkyung’s calf with the baton before bringing it down on her back, which seemed to only annoy her. Minkyung threw Saerom to the ground and turned to face Hyunjin, who tensed up as she held onto the baton like it was her lifeline. Within the blink of an eye, her opponent was right in front of her. Hyunjin reacted instantly when Minkyung was about to grip her shoulders and used the baton to block her from doing so. However, it was a futile effort since Minkyung easily removed the weapon from her hands and struck her forehead before ramming Hyunjin into her with her shoulder and kicking her hard in the ribs, keeping her down. At that moment, as Minkyung held the baton up to hit the younger detective one more time, a gleam of light shone in the distance; it was Hayoung’s badge. Minkyung immediately dropped the baton before dashing forward to grab it. But before she could even touch the gold object, she was stopped short by Hyunjin using the baton to pull her back by her neck. 

“Nakyung! Get the badge!! And a taser!”

Nakyung nodded and did exactly as she was told, obtaining the valuable pin from the ground before running off to find a taser. During this, Saerom finally recovered and her heart rate was normal again. She awoke from behind the desk that Nakyung had dragged under for safety while Hyunjin had to fend off Minkyung. Right after gaining her consciousness back, Saerom hastily stood up to her feet and ran to assist Hyunjin. And by helping, the captain actually used Minkyung as a punching bag, striking her face and stomach repeatedly. Hyunjin had never seen Saerom so angry before, but she was having a difficult time keeping the tall fighter in place since she kept squirming under her grasp. Hyunjin could only hope Nakyung hurries up as she held onto the baton tighter, trying her best not to let Minkyung free. Just then, the technician came running with a ranged taser in her hands, aiming it. But her friends and enemy were too jumbled for her to take a clear shot from the door.

“Saerom! Stop boxing for a moment and hold her still!!” Nakyung informed her captain and the tall girl was restrained from moving. 

This time, she aimed towards her side as Saerom binded Minkyung’s legs with her arms. After carefully analyzing her target, Nakyung finally took a shot and the taser connected the traitor in the waist. But to their horror, Minkyung giggled at it. 

“That tickled.”

Immediately after commenting that, Minkyung took the baton from Hyunjin’s hands with more force than necessary. The young detective felt like her arms were being pulled out of their sockets, but Minkyung wasn’t finished. She nailed her elbow on Hyunjin’s ribs, causing her to let out a painful cry before using the baton to push her back, sending the younger girl flying against one of the desks. Minkyung quickly used the baton and slammed down onto Saerom’s back, freeing her legs. The captain groaned, realizing that one of her ribs were broken when felt a sharp pain in her whole right side. 

With both Saerom and Hyunjin finally down, it was just Nakyung left. When Minkyung easily beat the only capable fighters in the room, the small technician fell to the floor on her bottom, cowering back. She was trained to be a tech-savvy for reasons, personally, because she loved computers and electronics, and two, so that she wouldn’t have to deal with being close combat like this. There was no way Nakyung would be able to face Minkyung, let alone even land a punch on her. She was on the brink of losing hope that someone would save her at this moment since Minkyung was slowly, eerily approaching her. 

Saerom hissed from the pain in her stomach, her broken ribs letting out a stinging sensation. She managed to roll to her side slightly and got a glimpse of the tall girl towering over Nakyung. Afterwards, Saerom began having a coughing fit. Specks of blood decorated the floor.

“Saerom!!” This was all new to Nakyung; the first time she’s ever seen Saerom and Hyunjin in so much pain. It ached her heart.

“Looks like you have nowhere to go…little rat.” Her eyes gleamed a bright, blue glow, which sent shivers down Nakyung’s spine. And her calm, deep voice didn’t make things better. The younger girl quickly looked away, shutting her eyes tightly as she waited for the last moment to come. Only it didn’t.

“That’s enough!!” 

_ Chaeyoungie _. Nakyung instantly opened her eyes and looked behind Minkyung, who was also looking over her shoulders. To her utmost relief, there stood her girlfriend and Seoyeon with guns in their hands, ready to fire at any given moment. 

“Minkyung…I knew there was something weird about you since the day we meant.” Seoyeon glared at her. 

“I should’ve known…no wonder you never attended the academy. You’re a mole, aren’t you?” The older girl smirked at the two police officers before her, amused at just how _ right _ they were. 

“It seems like you two clearly understand."

“To think someone like you worked alongside people like us…how many of you are there?!” Seoyeon exclaimed, which Minkyung only answered back with a wider smirk.

"As much as I'd to stand here and chit chat with you, quick note, I have the right to remain silent.”

“Not for long.” Chaeyoung spoke one last time before firing a warning shot, but of course, Minkyung continued to remain unfazed despite how blaring it was. 

Nakyung on the other hand, instinctively ducked behind the desk and covered her ears to prevent herself from becoming deaf. The two officers quickly put away their guns back in their holders before rushing forward to Minkyung. Soon, there was now another brawl taking place with two against one. Random items were being hollered left and right, various furniture being used as weapons, and not once did Chaeyoung or Seoyeon used their guns. Punches and kicks were all over the place but overtime, it was starting to become clear that the two officers were being subdued by Minkyung. She really was too strong for them, Nakyung thought to herself. In the peak of the fight, Chaeyoung attempted to punch the enemy, only for her fist to be firmly caught before it could reach Minkyung’s face. Following that, the next thing Chaeyoung realized was that her arm was twisted behind her back and she was pinned hard against a desk. The weight was so immense that the officer felt like she was being crushed with 200 pounds, when it was just really Minkyung forcing her to stay down. 

But before she could continue this any longer, Seoyeon came up right behind her and smashed a wooden chair onto her back, destroying the entire stool in the process. This, however, only annoyed Minkyung as she slowly turned out and snarled at the brunette officer, who looked like she slightly regretted that. Chaeyoung stopped squirming when she was released from Minkyung’s grip at last. Now, all the attention was focused on Seoyeon, the last one still standing. The taller girl once again, launched the first move, aiming her fist towards her opponent’s face. Seoyeon was able to dodge that as she attempted to strike her knee at Minkyung’s stomach. Unfortunately, the attack was useless since she easily blocked it with her bare hands before grabbing the officer’s leg and kicked other one, forcing Seoyeon to fall on the ground. 

Once Minkyung’s locked the brunette’s leg tightly under her arm, she used her elbow to rupture her thigh, striking it harshly and emitted a sharp pain through her whole body. Seoyeon cried aloud and weakly attempted to remove her now broken leg away from Minkyung’s grasp. Before the younger girl could do anything else, she was suddenly brought up to her feet before being dragged by the collar towards the entrance. The last thing Seoyeon expected to happen was to be hurled onto the glass doors leading into the station. She was thrown so hard that she flew right through, breaking the entire glass structure as a result. Seoyeon was knocked unconscious when her front landed on the concrete, glass debris decorating her back. Despite the thick hoodie and blue jeans she was wearing, there were still some cuts on her ankle and wrist, even a few on her face. 

“SEOYEON!!” Nakyung’s eyes were wide, utterly horrified at what she just witnessed and prayed her friend wasn’t dead from the impact of the fall.

Back in the station, Minkyung glanced at Seoyeon outside on the concrete ground, surrounded by a pile of glass shards and smirked at this. At last, no one else was able to stand in her way now. Or so she thought. Out of nowhere, Hyunjin came up from behind and wrapped her arms around Minkyung’s waist before bending backwards, slamming the taller girl harshly as the impact injured her head, shoulders, and neck. Even though this wasn’t enough to make her feel actual pain nor knock her out, it was enough. Upon seeing Seoyeon being rag dolled out the doors, Hyunjin could feel nothing but pure rage inside her. Her adrenaline spiked and she was breathing more heavily. By the time Minkyung got up after being judo slammed, Hyunjin was already way ahead of her when a fist powerfully struck her face. More punches and kicks rang out between the two fighters, though it was mostly the detective dodging and successfully landing hits on Minkyung. The taller foe had no idea how Hyunjin was doing this, but she couldn’t lay a single hit on her. As this continued on, Nakyung made sure Chaeyoung was alright from behind the desk. 

“Baby, honey, please tell me you’re ok.” The small technician was on the verge of tears after she saw what had happened to Seoyeon and Saerom. 

“I’m fine—ugh!” Just as she answered, Chaeyoung felt a sharp pain in her back as she gripped onto her girlfriend’s hand tighter. “I’m fine, I swear.”

“We need to call the ambulance, Chaeyoungie— when is backup arriving?? It’s been awhile.”

“They said they’re coming soon, but you’re right….”

“What should we do?”

“Honey—go help Saerom, she’s bleeding. I’ll be fine, I can cope with the pain. Now, I need you to go help our captain, she needs it more than me.”

“O-ok…if Minkyung comes back—”

“I’ll protect you guys, I promise. Now hurry, babe.”

With that being said, Nakyung quickly crawled towards Saerom while still being on the lookout in case the traitor noticed her passing by. Once she reached her captain, Nakyung quickly pulled her aside to avoid being accidentally stomped on while Minkyung and Hyunjin duked it out like the UFC. Her heart ached when she saw Saerom’s bruised face, her black eye, and some blood trailing from her mouth down to her chin. Next, Saerom was dragged to the same place Chaeyoung was as both her and Nakyung attended to their captain’s wounds. Eventually, she regained her consciousness again and looked at her surroundings. 

“What’s happening right now?” The confused captain’s eyes flew towards Chaeyoung and Nakyung who gave her nervous looks.

“Uh—you were like, barely breathing and Hyunjinnie is going all out right now.” The orange haired officer explained.

“Yeah, I think Minkyung’s getting weaker.”

“Oh…ok, that's a good sign, right?” Saerom questioned the two sitting before her as she continued laying on the ground, sighing in relief that Hyunjin was there. “Wait, where’s Seoyeon?” Nakyung’s heart dropped. She was dreading to answer this because she didn’t know if the brunette was alright or not. 

“S-she…Minkyung tossed her out of the station while the glass doors were still closed…I-I— I don’t know if Seoyeon is—” She was getting too emotional revealing this information so Chaeyoung and Saerom quickly stopped her. 

“Hey, hey, Nakyung. It’s alright. Knowing Seoyeon, she’ll survive. You don’t have to worry too much, ok?”

“Yeah, baby…I trust Seoyeon will live. As we hope she’s fine, let’s try and help Hyunnie out.” 

“…you’re right.” Nakyung sniffed and used her sleeve to wipe her tearful eyes. 

“Alright. I’m gonna go out there.”

“I’ll go with you.” 

“Saerom, your rib is shattered, it’ll only get worse.” The small technician quickly stopped her captain from trying to get up while Chaeyoung her next move. 

As Hyunjin continued battling Minkyung, she just nearly defeated the older girl when solid blow hit her hard in the stomach, which instantly had the detective dropping to the ground. Minkyung was beyond angry now and only got more irritated every time Hyunjin dodged her attacks. Just when she reached for something in her pocket, Chaeyoung swung a tough kick to her side before throwing a fiery punch. The next thing they knew, the battle was now between Minkyung versus Hyunjin and Chaeyoung, another two against one situation. This fight continued on for minutes, which felt like endlessly long hours as the seconds pass by. While her friends were throwing punches and kicks here and there, Nakyung continued to attend Saerom’s injuries, placing band aids on her arms, using a towel to clean her face from sweat and blood, running to the bathroom to rinse, and coming back with some ice packs to tend her bruises. 

Nakyung had no idea to help Saerom’s broken rib, as it seemed to be the main reason why her captain writhing in pain and carefully clutching her stomach. Despite her captain saying she doesn’t have to worry much about it, Nakyung stressed over it anyways. Afterwards, she decided to sit back and carefully watch the fight go on, not so patiently waiting for backup to arrive. That was when she reached patted the pocket of her jeans, not feeling Hayoung’s badge where it should be. Nakyung frantically searched around to see where she could’ve dropped it as her eyes scanned the room. Saerom noticed this and quickly became worried. 

“Did you lose something?” 

“Yeah, um…the badge that Hyunjin told me keep. The one that she first gave to you.”

“Hayoung’s badge! I’ll help find it—”

“No. _ I’ll _ find it. Now stay here.”

“Wait— Nakyung!”

Ignoring Saerom’s whispered calls for her to come back, the technician quickly snuck out from her hiding place and out to where the battle was still going on. Hyunjin and Chaeyoung were sweating bullets trying to subdue Minkyung, who seemed to be struggling for the first time since she inhaled the blue smoke. Nakyung’s eyes paced around, trying her best to find the badge before the traitor did. Just then, a light blinked in the distance, catching her attention. There it was, by the wall next to the vending machine. The battle persisted on next to it, but Nakyung was determined to obtain the badge again before it got squashed. As she ran towards, that unfortunately caught Minkyung’s attention in the middle of the battle and her eyes fell down towards the badge. 

Like a switch, Minkyung was now on high alert, prying both Hyunjin and Chaeyoung off her. Before they could try and grab hold of her again, she spun around once before jumping into the air and double kicking the two officers at the same time, sending them both crashing into already broken furniture. Then, Minkyung glared at Nakyung who was busy dusting off the badge. The tall girl reached inside her pocket and pulled something else that was shiny. And sharper. Hyunjin groaned as she got up from the ground and looked at her opponent who was drawing out a blade from her pocket, seemingly walking towards her best friend. 

_ No… _

“I should’ve done this a long, long time ago….” 

Hyunjin, nor anyone in the room, never had time to react on what Minkyung was about to do. Everything felt like it became completely silent and time had slowed down. The vulnerable girl barely noticed the figure that was charging at her and all she saw were bright blue eyes snarling at her. Suddenly, Nakyung felt numb, hardly feeling herself collapse to the ground as her eyes grew blurry. Time stopped then, Minkyung firmly gripping her slippery blade. Hyunjin felt tears flowing from her eyes as she simply stared at the pool of blood before a piercing scream rang out…

  
  


_ NAKYUNG!!! _


	14. ☆ Light Hearted Stuff: Super Smash Bros Squad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeojin and the gang! :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this calmed down your hearts uwu


	15. Aftermath

The scene was an absolute mess. Police cars parked everywhere, numerous cameras flashing, and the news headlines going nationwide. At least 4 police stations arrived to the scene, including Haseul’s. She was able to make the news cast leave Saerom be as she accompanied the older captain in the ambulance. The vehicle wasn’t moving yet since the medic team was still treating the other members, especially Nakyung, to make sure they’re ready for their road to the hospital. Haseul felt guilty and was on the verge of tears for not acting fast enough for her friends, despite Saerom assuring her she wasn’t at fault. 

"Haseul. Really, it's fine, you're not at fault at all." 

"But if I hadn't left earlier, this wouldn't have happened…and now look…." 

"Please Seullie…you're being too hard on yourself. We'll be ok." 

"……" 

Silence fell between the two captains as they embraced each other in the ambulance. Saerom had her arm around Haseul while they continued remaining quiet. There wasn’t much to discuss left so both of them took in the peaceful silence. Haseul leaned into the embrace, her face buried in Saerom’s neck. Despite how cold and windy the night was, the hug was warm enough. 

“…I’m sorry.”

“Haseul…stop saying sorry, silly.”

“I can’t help it. I just…wanted to help more than I could.”

“I know, Seullie. And you did.”

“But—”

“No buts.” She pouted and Saerom had a really hard time to hold herself back from squealing.

“…but—”

“Seul, you came to us first before anyone else. Even though you were very busy today, you never hesitated to help others out. And that’s what makes you so amazing.”

“Saerom…” Just then, Chaeyoung limped towards the two captains waiting in the open ambulance. 

"Oh hey, Chaengie. How are youー"

"I'm going with Nakyung first. Just wanna tell you." She told Saerom with a blank face, void of any expressions. The captain's heart ached at this.

"Of course, of course. You should rest first. I'll see you tomorrow." 

With that, Chaeyoung boarded Nakyung's ambulance and closed the door behind her. She held Nakyung’s hand from her side while the injured girl offered her a weak, but warm smile before wincing as the paramedics got to work around her wound. Chaeyoung nearly teared up when her girlfriend let out a pained whimper, followed by many more as the paramedics patched her wound up. She gently squeezed Nakyung's hand to help her through the pain, being careful not to hurt her anymore. Back in the scene of the post-brawl, Haseul watched as the ambulance carrying Chaeyoung and Nakyung roll away. 

Before all of this, she was the first one to arrive at the scene after frantic shifts and turns to get there. When Chaeyoung didn’t call her back, she became extremely worried and rushed to Saerom’s station, followed by most of the members in her own. Sooyoung, Vivi, Chaewon, Jiwoo, and Heejin accompanied the main captain on her way there and just like Haseul, they were horrified and shocked by the time they arrived. When they discovered Seoyeon’s unconscious body with glass debris around her, the crew immediately did their best to brush tiny, prickly pieces off of her and carried the police officer away to safety. Jiwoo and Chaewon stayed back to care for Seoyeon, while the rest carefully approached the doorless entrance to Saerom’s station. 

The crew had no idea what was coming, but the last thing they expected to see, once they got a good look inside, was Nakyung laying on the ground, in Chaeyoung’s arms as Hyunjin removed her coat before using it to prevent the blood from spilling out. The detective tried her best to remain calm for Nakyung, but seeing the sight her clutching onto Chaeyoung for dear life immediately broke her and she became sobbing mess. Chaeyoung, on the other hand, couldn’t stay calm after witnessing what Minkyung had done to her girlfriend. Now, she too was weeping while embracing Nakyung as much as she could and making sure she was still breathing from time to time. 

Heejin instantly placed her pistol back in it’s holder tied around her waist and bolted towards the group, her friends following close behind. She unzipped her jacket and gently applied pressure on Nakyung’s stomach. Hyunjin had no idea how to react at her partner’s sudden appearance, but was greatly relieved to see her, as well as everyone else. Sooyoung quickly alerted the ambulance and the medical team to arrive as soon as possible because there were lives at stake. That was when Haseul spotted Saerom still sitting on the far right of the building, who looked like she was about to pass out. She quickly rushed to her side when the older captain slowly leaned down while still clutching onto her side, the area where her rib was broken. Just before she hit the ground, Haseul saved her from the impact. Saerom opened her eyes when she felt a soft, cool hand on her cheek, and was surprised to see her friend’s worried look staring back at her. Before Saerom could say anything else, Haseul was already carrying her outside and quickly placed her next to Seoyeon so Chaewon and Jiwoo can take care of her, too. 

After minutes of waiting, the rest of the other backups and medic finally arrived at the sight. Most notably, lieutenant Im Nayeon quickly ordered her investigation team to tape off the area because she knew there was going to be a horde of reporters flashing cameras, attempting to get interviews, as well as the news cast arriving at the scene to film live for everyone tuning in to see. Nayeon made sure all of the perimeters were strictly closed to prevent any non-authoritative figures to cross through, all the while checking to make sure her team has covered every inch of the scene. Once they were finished, the lieutenant was informed on the sight.

“We have two officers severely injured and three in critical condition.” Nayeon’s radio walkie talkie sounded as she held it in her hand and sighed upon being notified. 

“Copy that.”

That night, the news made national headlines on every TV in South Korea and everyone basically tuned in. After hours of clearing the sight and collecting all evidence, it was finally just Hyunjin and Heejin, as well as some of their friends remaining. The other stations had expressed their words of encouragement to Saerom, offering any help she needed, to which the captain politely declined since she didn’t want to trouble them. Either way, they weren’t really asking and it amused Saerom since her friends didn’t bother to try being subtle about it. Even if she said no, they’re going to help her anyways. With that being said, their ambulances were finally on its way to the hospital. The one Nakyung was in had already taken before all the reporters and the news cast arrived, fortunately. Saerom and Seoyeon were in one, accompanied by Haseul and the other consisted Chaeyoung and Hyunjin, along with Heejin who stayed by their side. Haseul’s station was excused for the day, which allowed everyone to go home and rest after weeks having their heads stuck in criminal cases after criminal cases. 

The group was settled into their beds while Haseul and Heejin not too patiently waited for the nurses to finish. After their check ups were finally done, Saerom, Chaeyoung, Seoyeon and Hyunjin were in their hospital gowns and were laying in beds. The captain remained awake as the other two were sleeping soundly. Saerom sighed and leaned back, closing her eyes as she thought back to what had happened today. The longer the event played through her head, the more emotional she got. Saerom was startled when the door to her ward suddenly opened, so she quickly wiped away her tears. It was probably Jiho making her last check up before leaving to go home. But to her surprise, it was just Haseul. 

“Oh, hey Seullie. What are you still doing here?”

“I wanted to see you.” She gave Saerom a warm smile, which was easily and happily returned. “How are you feeling?”

“Better. Aside from the x-ray results.” This made Haseul sigh.

“I’m sorry….”

“Seullie…I told you to stop apologizing, silly.”

“I can’t help it~” Saerom tried her best to stop herself from bursting out into giggles upon hearing Haseul’s cute whine. 

“You big baby. Come sit with me.”

The younger captain gladly took the offer, or request, and took a next to Saerom. She made herself comfortable, slightly blushing when their arms touched. Haseul was hoping Saerom wasn’t able to see that, but little did she know, the other captain had already seen it and was starting to blush as well. She had been crushing on Haseul since their high school years and couldn’t fathom that it’s been more than 4 years. Saerom first saw her in freshman year and that was the first time she ever felt "love at first sight". Their mutual friends quickly caught up to this and constantly encouraged Saerom to make a move, but being the nervous wreck she is, the crush continued for years. Her friends reassured her multiple times that Haseul feels the same way, but every attempt of asking the girl on the date only resulted in Saerom chickening out and calling it a “hangout.” 

“Saerom?”

“O-oh, yes?”

“You were spacing out.” 

“My bad, sorry. Did you say something?”

“I was just wondering how the fight started.” 

“Ah…um, well…before everything happened, Hyunjin came up to me and asked about Hayoung….”

“Wait— w-what? Hayoung?” Haseul immediately shifted in her seat on Saerom’s bed to face her more. Her expressions was a mix of sadness and confusion. “Why and what did she ask?”

“She…she found Hayoung’s badge. She said Heejin found it and Jiheon told her to give it to me. Hyunjin just asked me who Hayoung was. I just told her that she was our best friend and what she was like…I didn’t have the energy to say anymore. We walked back inside and then the next thing we know, Nakyung was being held hostage by Minkyung.”

“Oh my god….”

“Yeah, it got crazier. She used her inhaler to enhance herself or something.” 

“Enhance? So like she became stronger?”

“And faster. It’s all a confusion to me.” 

“Wait. That sounds familiar. You’ve heard about what happened with Yena, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well Jiho said that there were unknown substances in her blood and extracted this blue liquid. She called it some sort of serum. It contained a lot of stimulants and other things.”

“What the…? So that must’ve been what Minkyung has. Only it was airborne then.

“It’s also drinkable, too. Especially after what happened in Seoul High School.”

“Well this one hell of a mess.”

“Yeah…but we can rest for now.” Haseul chuckled before gently leaning her head on Saerom’s shoulders, careful not to hurt her. But that thought was thrown out the window when the older captain wrapped her arms around Haseul. “I’m glad you’re ok.” Saerom blushed like a tomato. 

“T-thanks…for being by my side during this hell.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Rom.”

“Why not? You deserve some gratitude.”

“It’s just what I want to do…but you’re welcome.”

There was a peaceful silence once again as they enjoyed their comfortable embrace. Haseul wrapped her arms around Saerom’s waist, making sure she was gentle enough. The older girl let out a tired sigh before closing her eyes. 

“Are you feeling tired, Rom?” 

“Kinda. But you should go home and rest.”

“It’s ok. I wanna stay here with you…”

“Why…?”

“Um, b-because…” 

Saerom was now facing Haseul, who hesitatingly removed her head from the older girl’s shoulder and averted her attention towards her. Before they knew, the two captains were merely gazing into each other’s eyes, admiring the view. Saerom was absolutely unaware of what was going on, but Haseul was inching closer, constantly looking up and down from her eyes and lips. This was all new to Saerom since she’s never felt her heart race so much before, but oddly enough, it was a nice feeling. She, too, leaned in closer, their lips just centimeters away. Just then, the door to the ward flew wide open with Jiho still focusing her attention on the clipboard in her hand, not noticing what her two other friends were up to as she walked towards Saerom’s bed. Haseul let out a small yelp and quickly hopped off before standing up straight, now on high alert. She visibly flinched when Jiho yanked the curtains open as the doctor got startled herself, placing a hand on her chest. 

“Oh! Haseul! I didn’t expect to see you here. What’s going on?”

“U-uh— I was just—talking!”

“Y-yeah, she’s staying for the night.”

“Ah, well alright. I’m just here to finish my last checkup with Saerom and head home. If you don’t mind.”

With that being said, Haseul hastily stepped aside so Jiho can sit in the chair and review everything on her clipboard. As this went on, Saerom fidgeted on her bed and Haseul merely stood there, red in the face. She felt embarrassed just from nearly getting caught kissing her crush and was practically praying that Jiho wouldn’t get suspicious of anything. But being the highly intelligent person she was, the doctor obviously noticed the awkward tension in the room, although decided to ignore it for now. When she was finally done, Jiho didn’t forget to let them know about something on her mind. 

“Um…did something happen before I came in here?”

“W-what? No.”

“Uh-huh. Then why are you two red as tomatoes?”

“It’s…hot in here.” Saerom half-assed her excuse but it was because her mind was too fuzzy to think of a better one. The two captains broke into cold sweats when Jiho began laughing. 

“Yeah right! The air conditioner’s still on, incase you two didn’t notice.” 

“Well I think it’s time you finally go home, Jiho! Have a goodnight!”

Before the head doctor could protest, Haseul dragged her by the wrist and lead her outside of the door before closing it. She sighed in relief and locked it, then making her way back to Saerom’s area and sat on the chair that Jiho previously used during the checkup. The two captains figured their smart friend would leave them alone after this, but of course, she wasn’t finished.

Meanwhile, in a separate room, Hyunjin laid in her bed while dozing off and staring up at the ceiling. She had asked Jiho if she could be in the same ward with Nakyung to be by her side. Reluctantly, the head doctor allowed it but informed Hyunjin to remain quiet since the still unconscious officer still needed rest. Jiho told the detective that she was in stable condition now and is expected to awake the next morning or slightly later than that. Hyunjin never felt so relieved before and couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come. 

She was having a nice nap in her and Nakyung’s shared ward when she was woken by the loud approaching footsteps coming from the hallway. The door abruptly opened, startling Hyunjin as she took a deep breath and decided to fake-sleep it out, or at least that was her plan until small hands gripped her own. She opened one eye sleepily to peek at who the hands belonged to only to make eye contact with her partner. 

“Hey Jeon.” She whispered, to not alert the others in the room that had come with Heejin that she was awake. 

“Dumbass. I told you to be careful.” Heejin said. The words were harsh, but the soft tone of her voice betrayed that. Hyunjin just offered a lazy smile and shrug. 

“Thought you’d be home by now.”

“Well surprise, I was patient enough.” Heejin chuckled as she took a seat next to Hyunjin. She didn’t miss the other bed right beside her partner’s. The curtains drawn over completely. The older detective assumed that it Nakyung’s bed. “How are you feeling now?”

“Fine, for the most part. But my ribs fucked up again.”

“Could’ve been worse, to be honest. I heard Minkyung was on that serum thing?”

“Yeah, except it was airborne. She used her whole inhaler.”

“My god…so was it like, the same thing like Yena and Yujin?”

“Basically. Minkyung’s eyes became blue, similar to my cousin.”

“No wonder that took such a toll on you guys.”

“See that’s the thing. We let that traitor get away….”

“Wasn’t anyone’s fault. She came out of nowhere and unleashed hell.”

“But still, I just— Nakyung….”

“Hey, look. Don’t be too hard on yourself about it. The situation was already too much so that was the least expected thing to happen. We can hunt down Minkyung whenever we have the chance. You fought well, Kim.”

  
  


_ Did she just _ ** _compliment_ ** _ me? _

  
  


Seeing Hyunjin’s reaction to her praises towards her, Heejin rolled her eyes before confirming the silent suspicions. “Yes, I just complimented you.”

“Uh…thanks?”

“Anyways. We’ll work on finding Minkyung and deal with her the chance we get. But now we still have to worry about this serum thing.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“So far, the only suspect we have is Minkyung since she’s already used it, as well as the coach of the track team who was allegedly responsible for what happened to the students and Yujin.”

“I’ve been suspecting him all day, too. What evidence do we have besides him carrying out the cart containing all the Gatorade?”

“They found him on CCTV footage sorting out the bottles and the next thing you know, he’s mixing some suspicious content with the drinks.” With that being said, Hyunjin groaned and sighed once Heejin finished informing her what happened. “We’re close to settling the case, Kim. Let’s give it a rest for now.” She chuckled before lowering her chair to rest her elbow on Hyunjin’s bed, placing her chin on the palm of her hand.

“Are you staying for the night?”

“Might as well. They’re still fixing my house after…you know.” The younger detective giggled at this and finally laid her head down onto the pillow. 

“Where have you been staying then?”

“Chaewon offered.”

“Hm. That’s good.” 

“So uh, you think you’ll be fine incase we ever have to fight again on our next missions?”

“Of course. I’ll be ready. What about you?”

“Same here.”

As they continued conversing with each other, Hyunjin began growing tired and it was only noticeable to Heejin when she kept giving lazy responses. At that moment, the older detective looked up to see her partner’s eyes closed while still answering her questions. She decided to let Hyunjin sleep so Heejin remained silent for a while before chuckling when she heard a soft snore. Soon, Heejin began growing sleepy as well. Before she realized it, she had rested her head in her arms on the side of Hyunjin’s bed. The night went by progressively and overtime, Heejin unknowingly placed her hand on her partner’s while dreaming. The two held each other’s hands till morning finally struck at 6:00AM when Haseul walked into the ward. She gently patted Hyunjin’s shoulder, awaking the detective as she groaned in response of being woken up so early. It was the first real sleep she got ever since her partnership with Heejin. 

“Ugh…what time is it?” Hyunjin drowsingly attempted to find the clock but was too tired to even open her eyes. 

“It’s 6:00AM. The other girls are up if you wanna see them.”

"Huh. I always thought they were heavy sleepers. Thanks, Haseul." 

"No problem." 

The captain let out a teasing giggle, which confused Hyunjin as she arched an eyebrow. She was about to shrug it off until she finally noticed after looking down. To her utter surprise, Hyunjin was holding Heejin's hand securely. _ Jeon Heejin's _hand. She flinched away from the contact, which startled her partner awake.

"Hm? What's going on?" Heejin's eyes darted around the room, looking for signs of trouble but scrunched her eyes when she couldn't see anything. 

"Have you been there the whole night??" 

"Huh…?" Confused, the older detective averted her attention towards Hyunjin, who looked back at her with a bewildered expression. "I think so." 

"That's gonna leave a lasting sore on your arm…." This quickly gave Heejin a chance to recollect all of thoughts as she blinked at her partner. 

  
  


_Is she _**_worried_** _about me??_

  
  


"Uh well, it doesn't hurt that much anyways. Let's go meet up with everyone else!" 

Next, the older detective gestured for Hyunjin to get off of the bed and start heading to her friends' ward. But before they could even take one step, an alarm goes off, startling the two detectives. Neither of them knew what was going on but all they had time to hypothesize was that it wasn't a good sign. Therefore, Heejin quickly carried Hyunjin on her back before naruto dashing out of the ward. Just as they barged through the door, Jiho was almost knocked to the ground upon the impact of the door hitting her. The two detectives ran right past her before she could even process what had just happened.

It didn't take Jiho long to hunt them down, discovering their horribly-planned hiding place in the bathroom. The two huddled into one single stall and Jiho barged in before forcing them out of the enclosed space. But right after she saw them, they immediately ditched the place and towards the exit. Jiho grew frustrated with their antics and eventually got the hospital’s security guards involved. This time, Hyunjin and Heejin successfully didn’t get caught for half an hour, until they stupidly bumped into one of the guards. He had no other choice but to lead them back to Hyunjin’s ward, where a fuming Jiho waited for them  _ (“There you are!!” Before spraying them with water in a much larger container.) _

Of course, they threw hissy fits here and there, which prompted the doctor to refill to keep their mouths shut. Eventually, Hyunjin and Heejin finally complied and returned to the younger detective's ward, where her friends were already waiting, pointing fingers and laughing even harder when they saw her hair and clothes completely drenched for not complying. After Chaeyoung showed Hyunjin the video she'd taken of her and Heejin escaping Jiho, the detective instinctively reached for her friend's phone to delete the footage. 

"Hyun!! Calm down! It's just a harmless video!"

"If it's so harmless, then why did you edit sounds effects and add Naruto music to it??"

"Comedy's sake. Jeez, your humor is becoming dry." Seoyeon chipped in to tease the detective, only to laugh even more when Hyunjin pouted. 

"You posted that on Twitter though." 

"I can make my account private, you whiny baby." 

"Yeah, that makes me feel _ so _ much better." She returned a sarcastic gratitude in return before laying back down on her bed. "By the way, where's Saerom?"

"She was talking with Haseul when we left." 

"Oh. Alright." 

Throughout the next hour of their stay in the hospital, the group chatted amongst themselves. They constantly teased each other back and forth as Heejin occasionally giggled at their antics. While Hyunjin and her friends continued their playful banter, she suddenly remembered someone else in the room with them. Sneaking away from the group, Heejin walked over to Nakyung’s bed, seeing the girl sleep peacefully as the computer monitored her heart beat. Thankfully, it was steady and Heejin was hoping Nakyung would wake up soon. She felt sad for her partner as well as the others who were there when witnessed the scene. 

Heejin thought back to what the team found when they investigated; Saerom’s station in utter destruction, furniture everywhere, 5 wounded officers on the scene and an escaped suspect. That was when she reminded herself of the badge she and Jiheon found back in Seoul High School, with the addition of her phone that went missing right after bumping into that girl. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking over, she realized it was just Hyunjin. 

“Hey. You were kinda spacing out. What are you doing back here?”

“Just wanted to see how Nakyung’s doing.”

“Oh…yeah uh, Jiho said she’ll be fine. But we’re not exactly sure when she’ll wake up.”

“Don’t worry about it, Kim. As long as she’s ok, I don’t doubt it.” 

“Hm.” 

Just then, the door to their ward flies open and Jiho entered, clearly stressed about handling the kids before her, but since they were all in one room together, she might as well get their check ups done now. The doctor instructed Chaeyoung, Seoyeon and Heejin to sit on individual chairs while Hyunjin had to remain in her bed, much to her dismay. It didn’t take long for Jiho to get everything settled and finish writing down notes on her clipboard before walking out. But just when she was about to leave, Heejin was quick to stop her. 

“Wait, doctor!”

“Oh, yes?”

“Is it alright if we go downstairs really quick? We just want to see our friends Yena and Yujin.”

“We’re kinda in the middle of examining them, thus, it might take awhile before visitors can have access again.”

“Please~? We promise there will be no trouble.” This made Jiho sigh. 

_ Right…just like the last time you promised the exact same thing.  _

“Fine. But once we get down there, you’re gonna have to wait for a bit because I still have small things to take care of.”

“YES!” Both Heejin and Hyunjin cheered giddily until Jiho stopped them from being too enthusiastic.

“And behave!”

With that being said, the two detectives were led back down to the lab, closely following the head doctor from behind. They had a strange feeling that the lab was somewhat becoming more futuristic as the seconds pass. Maybe because of its interior design, but it felt too “intelligent” for them to understand what was going on. But either way, the lab was still as breathtaking and cool as the first time the detective partners had gone down there. 

Jiho chuckled at their awe as she led them through the crowd of nurses and doctors before entering a certain hallway, where they went down one more flight of stairs. There, they stopped at the first door. Peeking inside, they saw Yujin soundly asleep on her hospital bed. Hyunjin was about to request entrance, but after remembering what Jiho instructed her, she held back the inquiry. The doctor quickly typed in the code on the keypad before opening the door, but she wasn’t entering yet.

“Alright. This should just take me about 5 minutes. Until then, you two can wait here.”

They did as told and patiently stood on both sides, the door right between them. The two didn’t want to eavesdrop on Jiho’s conversation with the nurse inside, but when Yujin was suddenly mentioned, they couldn’t help but put their ears onto the door. They listened to every muffled word as much as they could. 

“Jiho, I’m not sure whether the substance from the blue serum is the same as the purple one because they’re much more reactive. However, they’re clearly possess similar effects. Both serums include symptoms of inhuman strength and speed, perfect vision, and overall, high levels of adrenaline. Though they pose immense fatigue in the after effects, the blue serum is much stronger than the purple.”

“Hmm…then…that might explain why Choi Yena’s heart ceases to beat. The blue serum’s power is so massive, that her body can now run on it’s own, without needing the heart. That would mostly depend on their strength prior to having the serums. Yena trained in the Korean National Police Academy for a certain period of time, therefore, already acquired the necessary vitality for it.”

“And according to the files, Ahn Yujin has been apart of track for a long time. Seoul High School’s team have achieved numerous records for their outstanding abilities, even competing in the national league. That might explain why she and the other members of the track team were subjects to this.”

“Highly unethical…whatever these serums are, I don’t doubt there could more of these. My solution is that we must create something that will be capable of helping them recover quickly.”

“Ugh, that’s too much work~”

“Come on, Binnie. As doctors, this is our job to do something about this. We can’t leave them suffering.”

“Aren’t scientists supposed to find stuff like and then we just prescribe it?”

“Well that’s what this lab is for. Besides, I’ve already sent half a portion to the other lab in Busan. Hopefully the stuff I found inside the serum will help them find out what’s so mysterious about it.”

“Welp, just gotta wait and see.”

When the two detectives heard Jiho walking towards the door, they hastily moved out of the way so they don’t get hit by the opening door. The head doctor led them inside, where they saw a nurse, with her name tag reading “Binnie”, realizing she was the one Jiho was talking to. She pushed some chairs towards Hyunjin and Heejin, allowing them to sit down next to Yujin’s bed. 

“Try not to bug her too much, she’s still resting so her heartbeat needs to regulate before she’s released from the hospital.”

“Alright, thank you.” Heejin expressed her gratitude.

“And don’t stay for too long. Visiting period ends in an hour so be quick.” Jiho and Binnie walked out of the room, leaving just the two detectives and Yujin. 

Afterwards, Hyunjin directed her attention towards her cousin sleeping soundly on the bed next to her, while Heejin was looking around the room. Hyunjin’s heart clenched as she took in the sight before her, her baby cousin asleep on a hospital bed with tubes and wires sticking out of her arms. She felt tears pricking her eyes but quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like Heejin noticed. 

The older girl had told her partner she was gonna walk around, to which Hyunjin nodded in response. Yujin looked peaceful, breathing at a slow pace. She glanced up to the heart monitor, seeing it beat steadily. Sighing, the detective thought back to when she and Heejin encountered Yujin on the purple serum for the first time, unconsciously wincing when she remembered her cousin burst through the door that sent her flying. 

“Kim.”

“What?”

“Did you hear what I said?”

“No.” Heejin softly sighed before rolling her eyes at the response. 

“I asked what you thought Jiho was talking about with Binnie. It seems like they call the liquid stuff ‘serum’.”

“Oh yeah. Then I guess that’s what we’re calling it now.”

“Jiho’s going to tell everyone else about this, right?”

“Pretty sure because she’s very abiding to the law anyway.”

“But what if…you know what, never mind. I’m being too paranoid.”

“Wait a minute. You’re suspicious of  _ Jiho _ ??”

“Listen, with the stuff that’s been going around about secret moles in police stations, it’s safe to be suspicious.” This made Hyunjin chuckle for once today. 

“I get it. But look, let’s not be irrational about this.”

“Yeah…you’re right.”

“I’m always right.” Heejin playfully glared at her partner before eyeing Yujin on the bed, her heart sinking when she remembered why the young athlete was here. “Hey um…I know she’s your cousin and all, so…are you ok?”

“I’m fine. Perfect…just thinking.”

“Is there anything you wanna talk about or let out?”

“Well…Yujin and I are very close. She’s basically my sister.”

  
  
  


** _~Flashback to 14 years ago~_ **

  
  
  
  


_ A toddler and a baby girl were playing with colorful cubes, a toy train, some Scooby Doo action figures and little stuffed animals in the living room. The toddler gently poked the baby’s nose with her finger and said ‘boop! I booped your nose, Yujin!” She clapped her tiny hands and laughed when Hyunjin did that. When the older girl did it again, Yujin repeated the same thing, hysterically cackling while clapping. The toddler was 4 and a half years old while the other had turned one just a day ago. Hyunjin took a toy replica of the Mystery Inc. van in her hand and zoomed it towards Yujin, gently making it drive over the baby’s little stomach like a hill, causing them both to giggle.  _

_ Afterwards, Hyunjin picked up her cousin and carried her onto the couch and then placing her small head on the pillow so she could lay down. The toddler climbed up the couch as carefully as she could before resting her back against a soft cushion. Of course, she didn’t forget to grab her Scooby Doo action figures along with her. Hyunjin and Yujin continued watching the cartoon show for the next half an hour, with the baby occasionally cackling and whenever Scooby and Shaggy cause some mischief. Hyunjin, however, was quite interested while watching the gang solve clues and mysteries to find the culprit. By the end of the episode, they finally catch the villain and unmasked them, revealing someone whom they never thought would have commited the crime.  _

_ Strangely enough, it was always the least suspected person, but that was what intrigued Hyunjin, even at nearly 5 years old. When the credits rolled and the channel began introducing the next show, she looked down on her lap to see her Scooby Doo action figures, picking them all up and examined them closely one by one. Her eyes practically sparkled after setting them down and looked up stare at nothing. Hyunjin really wanted to be like them when she grew up. Maybe not exactly like them, but definitely be inspired by their purpose; to solve mysteries and catch criminals.  _

_ She was suddenly interrupted by her thoughts when Yujin began softly crying, to which Hyunjin’s mom immediately rushed to the living room. There, the woman saw her daughter comforting Yujin by rubbing her stomach. Although her heart warmed at the sight, she knew she couldn’t just ignore her baby niece, therefore, Hyunjin’s mom carefully picked Yujin up from the couch and entered the kitchen. The baby continued crying while the woman was making some warm milk, Hyunjin appeared behind her mom with her action figures, holding Scooby on one hand and Freddie on the other. Yujin immediately stopped crying and started giggling, her eyes red and watery. The woman was confused as to why her niece was suddenly laughing, but her questions were answered when she turned around and saw Hyunjin jumping, waving her toys around for Yujin to see. The woman chuckled at this, being grateful her daughter was thoughtful enough to lift her niece’s mood.  _

_ “Alright, you two. Time to get dinner prepared and then auntie is gonna be here in no time.” _

_ “Awww can’t Yujin stay longer, please mom~?” _

_ “Sweetie, I know how much you love her and want to play with her, but you’re starting preschool now. No grown up is going to be home to take care of both of you.” _

_ “But, I’m old enough! I’m going to fight bad guys!” _

_ “‘Bad guys’?” Hyunjin’s mom was rather amuse her daughter would even suggest that. “That’s new, where’d you learn about fighting bad guys?” _

_ “Scooby Doo!” She held up the action figure up for her mother to see, receiving a small chuckle from the woman.  _

_ “Maybe decide that when you’re older, honey. Starting with baby steps.” _

_ “I’m not a baby.” Hyunjin made a cute pout and the woman had to hold herself from cooing.  _

_ “Alright, ya big baby, get ready for dinner and help me set up the table, ok?” _

_ “Fine~” _

_ With that being said, plates, napkins, forks, spoons and chopsticks were in place, Hyunjin enthusiastically hopped onto her chair and Yujin was placed in her baby chair. The small tray attached to the chair had a cup holder so Hyunjin’s mom placed a small cup full of water in it. Next came a little bowl full of eggs, skinned cucumber slices on the side, and a slightly larger container of rice. Not wanting to wait anymore, Yujin quickly grabbed a handful of her food and shoved it in her mouth. Hyunjin also had a bowl of rice and lots of eggs on the side. Her mother learned last year how much Hyunjin loved eggs and although it was rather the hard way, it was still a fond memory, amusing memory today.  _

_ “Eat slowly now, Hyunjinnie. And drink some water.” _

_ Dinner went by peacefully as the toddler and her mom discussed back and forth about Scooby Doo, constantly laughing about how Scooby and Shaggy are always getting into trouble whenever they run into the villains. Despite not knowing what her older cousin or aunt was talking, Yujin giggled along with them and clapped her hands covered in rice and eggs. By the time they finished eating, Yujin’s mom finally arrived to Hyunjin’s house to pick up her daughter, much to the toddler’s distress.  _

_ When the baby was placed in the backseat, she started crying because she knew she was going home without her older cousin. While her mother and aunt were still talking by the front entrance of the house, Hyunjin quickly snuck away and opened the car door where Yujin sat. The baby instantly stopped crying when she saw the older girl, giggling as she reached out to Hyunjin with both arms. Yujin desperately wanted to be held by her older cousin, but the seatbelt held her back. Climbing into the backseat, the toddler smiled and held the baby’s tiny little hands, placing kisses everywhere on her face. Yujin giggled even louder, catching the attention of her mother and Hyunjin’s mom. By the time they both arrived to see what was going on, they chuckled at the cute sight.  _

_ However, it was time for them to be apart for a little while because they had their busy lives to worry about. This time, surprisingly, Yujin didn’t cry when the car drove farther away from Hyunjin’s house. She was satisfied with her limited visit, so there wasn’t much for her to be too upset about, aside from wanting to stay longer. Hyunjin watched her aunt’s car disappear from the driveway and down the street. Her mother patted her shoulder before leading them both back into the house to call it a night. _

  
  


** _~End of flashback~_ **

  
  
  


“Awww, that’s adorable.” Heejin smiled at the memory as Hyunjin finished her story. They were now on their way towards Yena’s ward, walking as they speak. Jiho was leading them again.

“Yeah. Pretty long history together, but that’s just the jist of it.”

“I can’t believe out of all the shows you watch, Scooby Doo inspired you the most.”

“Well, not  _ just _ that but also Detective Conan.”

“OH! I love that anime. It’s how I learned Japanese.”

“Really? A lot of people in the academy said you were obsessed with Naruto.”

“It’s…kinda true, but I loved many anime shows, so.” 

“Cool.”

“Yeah.”

Hearing Hyunjin’s story of her and Yujin as childhood friends really had Heejin wondering the same thing about her past; how she met everyone, how fighting crime inspired her, etc,. She thought about her times in the academy as well, remembering when Class 3 was about to celebrate everyone acing the final exam. Their teacher prepared some donuts for her students to enjoy, only for them to be upset when the boxes were empty. Gowon was especially mad because she studied so hard to pass and there was nothing to be awarded to her. The teacher calmed her students down and decided to order another batch of donuts, assuming her colleagues mistakenly ate all of the pastries, thinking it was for them. 

But now that Heejin realized it was Hyunjin this whole time, it was a little too late to be angry about it, but she was still slightly upset knowing her partner was the culprit. Hopefully, next time Hyunjin doesn’t commit the same act again. Her thoughts were broken when they finally arrived at the guarded entrance of Yena’s ward. Recognizing the famous prodigies, the officers quickly moved out of the way. There was another keypad on the door which Jiho quickly dealt with again. The door soon opened and the trio made their way inside to be greeted by a much healthier looking Yena than they’d last seen. She was sitting on her bed playing Pokemon on her Pickachu covered 3DS. Hearing the two detectives walking inside, the older girl looked up, instantly smiling at the sight of her two friends visiting her. 

“Hey~~! How are you guys doing?”

“Yena!” Heejin greeted enthusiastically. Yena grinned and waved just as enthusiastically from her hospital bed. 

“How’s it going?” Hyunjin asked, a smile back on her face. The older girl responded with a positive answer before questioning. 

“What brings you two here?”

“Just wanted to stop by and see how you’re doing.”

“Oh! Well thanks for wondering, but I’m doing pretty well.” Yena flashed a bright smile. The two detectives were so glad their friend was much better now. “Also, I, uh…I heard the news.”

“…hm.” Hyunjin merely sat down on the chair beside Yena’s bed, sighing when her friend brought it up.”

“Sorry for bringing it up so suddenly.”

“No, it’s alright. We’re all fine.”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it too much, Yena. Everyone will recover soon.” Heejin placed her hand on the older girl’s, who quickly returned the contact. "Anyways, we came here to discuss matters regarding the experiment. That serum they used to inject you with, did they ever tell you their reasoning for doing so?"

"No, I don't think so. They kept it very brief." 

"So…Limbo. What kind of mafia are they?" 

"To start, they're very mysterious. Like, us underdogs have no idea who the leaders are and the boss' name is strictly prohibited from being spoken aloud." 

"Hm. Well, the reason why we're bringing this up in the first place is because we need to know about someone who we suspect might be apart of Limbo." Hyunjin's serious tone and dark expression made both Yena and even Heejin intimidated. 

"Who are you talking about?" The older girl questioned, shifting nervously on her bed.

"Minkyung. She's the one who stabbed Nakyung." 

Yena immediately froze as fear was written all over her face. The two detectives noticed this, looking at each other with curious looks before turning back to their friend. Heejin felt her slightly shiver, like she was panicking. She rubbed the back of Yena's hand with her thumb, hoping it would calm her down. Luckily, it did and she took a deep breath.

"Are you alright, Yena?" Heejin continued rubbing her hand.

"U-uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"So I'm assuming you know who she is."

"Everyone knows her…Minkyung's ferocious. She uses some of the soldiers as her own punching bags or something." 

"What else does she do in Limbo?" 

"She also doesn't talk to anyone. That's about all I know. But supposedly, people think that she fights for fun and is merciless."

"With the news, that seems to be true…." 

"Minkyung's been in Limbo while being apart of my station for 3 years…." Hyunjin narrowed her eyes as she stared down at nothing, clenching her fists in anger. "She's going to pay." 

"Kim, I know how you're feeling but now's not the time." 

"…fine." 

"Anyways, thanks for telling us about this Yena, it's really helpful." 

"No problem! It's the least I can do before Nako and I go to trial." 

"Oh speaking of which, who's gonna be your lawyer?" 

"Omg, I've been meaning to tell you guys this but you're not gonna believe it. THE Choi Jisu, aka Lia, decided to be my lawyer!" Yena patiently waiting for her two friends to be excited and joyful, but they merely looked at her with confusion.

"I'm sorry, who's that?" Hyunjin inquired, which earned a dramatic gasp from the older girl as she played her hand on her chest, making it even more exaggerated. 

"You guys don't know CHOI JISU??"

“Never heard of her.”

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing!" Heejin pouted cutely while crossing her arms, to which Yena rolled her eyes and an unseen blush from Hyunjin. 

"Because it is! There's no way you haven't heard of her. You both are as popular as she is."

"Get to the chase already. Who is she?" The younger detective waved her off. 

"She's like one of the best, if not the best, lawyers out there. Literally the god of lawyers. And she's around our age, too." 

"Oh interesting. So like prodigious?" 

"Basically yeah. Lia has won numerous cases before." 

"Wow. Well then you're in luck, Yena! I'm happy for you." 

"Thanks, Heejin. Hopefully, that'll lessen our jail sentence." 

"Let's not get our hopes up though, we should wait and see what happens."

"I think we can trust Lia. Hope everything goes well for you, Yena." 

The figured their visiting time was up and they gave their friend one more hug before leaving, much to Yena's playful protests. When they informed Jiho that they were going back upstairs, the head doctor was rather surprised they were being obedient for once. By the time they arrived back Hyunjin's ward, Chaeyoung and Seoyeon had already gone back to their wards. They heard Haseul and Saerom in a conversation near Nakyung's bed. The younger detective laid on the soft mattress as she and Heejin unintentionally eavesdropped on their captain. Their conversation was slightly muffled since the two detectives were 10 feet away from their captain.

“I can’t rest, Seullie. This is what happens when I'm too weak…."

“Saerom…you weren't ever weak. If anything, you were brave and that was more than enough."

"But it didn't stop Minkyung fromー" 

"Stop. Don't beat yourself up for it. Please, Saerom…."

“…you know I wasn’t meant to be a captain in the first place….”

“…." Haseul didn’t know what to say, but still kept her hand on her friend’s to comfort. 

“If…if she were here, she wouldn’t have let this happen.” 

“I know…but—”

“She was supposed to be captain. The youngest captain ever. Everyone loved her, Seule. We were supposed to be at the same station. As partners, with her as our perfect captain. And now I’m just a shabby replacement of who she was supposed to be.”

“What—”

“This was her dream and she was perfect for the position. I’m not. So I have to work twice as hard to make up for what I lack to not put my station in unnecessary danger which I already failed at. I can not and will not rest.” The sound of sniffling now sounded. 

“…if Hayoung was here right now, what do you think she’d say about this?” Saerom, not knowing the answer, lightly shrugged as she tried to contain her emotions. Haseul gently rubbed her shoulder. “She would’ve been so proud of you, Saerom. Hayoung isn’t one to be disappointed so easily. You tried your best, even if you couldn’t save Nakyung. Hayoung would’ve told you it was ok because you’re worthy enough of the captain position just as she is. And you know how ridiculously selfless she was….”

“Hm…yeah she was.” Saerom softly chuckled for the first time today.

“You see? It’s not your fault at all. Knowing Hayoung, she wouldn’t have blamed you, if anything, she’d definitely hunt down Minkyung for this.”

“…maybe you’re right…I’m—sorry, for being so stubborn.”

“No, I understand how you feel, Rom.”

Haseul gave her a soft smile before caressing her hand. The older captain returned the warmth while facing the other, entranced by her beautiful eyes. Before Haseul could add anything else, Saerom suddenly pulled her into a hug, arms around her waist. The younger captain chuckled lightly before embracing her friend back. On the other side of the room, Heejin stood against the wall with arms crossed, staring blankly at nothing as she listened to the whole conversation. Hyunjin sighed and leaned her back on her pillow, not knowing how to feel about her former captain speaking about her true feelings of being one. She never thought she’d hear Saerom say something deep and somewhat heartbreaking like this. But Hyunjin and her partner were still wondering about the question they’ve been asking themselves for the whole day; who is Song Hayoung?


	16. New Mission

It had been quite a long morning for the duo. Heejin was currently watching television beside Hyunjin’s bed while the other girl was looking through social media on her phone. Saerom, Chaeyoung, and Seoyeon were currently resting in their shared ward on another floor. Things were calm now, Haseul had gone back to the station while they were busy talking to Yena because duty calls. She called Heejin to let her know about it, to which the younger girl understood. After that, there was nothing else to do. The duo was growing bored, their stay at the hospital had nothing fun in it, besides the huge, hidden lab underneath the entire building. The only “activity” that even occurred during this boring time was when Heejin Naruto ran down the halls of the hospital with Hyunjin on her back. Other than that, there was literally nothing to do. Nagyung was still asleep, the only difference on her side of the room was the curtains surrounding her bed to give her privacy as she rested.

The older detective laid down on the couch, tucking a soft pillow under her head before closing her eyes. Hyunjin remained in her bed as she continued to play her phone for a few more minutes. Then, she set it down and sighed, placing her arm over her eyes. Hyunjin momentarily napped until the door to her ward suddenly opened, waking her up. To the detective’s surprise, it was Jiwoo. In a highly fancy dress. She approached her, the sound of high heels clicking against the tile following her. Jiwoo was clutching fancy looking envelopes to her chest while holding a bag in her other hand, looking giddy as usual. 

“Hey guys!!” Her loud voice made Heejin jerk awake on the couch. She sat up while rubbing her eyes.

“Oh…hey, Jiwoo. What are you doing here?”

“Came by for a quick visit! And brought you guys some apple-flavored macarons on my way here.” The older girl held up to bags that each contained cutely wrapped boxes full of the treat. “Thought I should give you these to enjoy before I tell you guys about something.”

“Thanks, unnie!” Now delighted, Hyunjin gratefully accepted one of the bags while Jiwoo gave the other one to Heejin. 

“Aw, you didn’t have to go through so much trouble. I’ll pay you back when I can.”

“Please, don’t worry about it! Think of these as get-well wishes.” This made the older detective chuckle. 

“Alright. Well, what do you wanna tell us?” Heejin carefully opened the box and took out a red macaron with delicate white cream filling in the middle before taking a bite. 

“I got invited to a ceremony by an old friend of mine! It’s why I’m dressed right now. She also allowed me to invite the station so here I am.”

“Oh, what kind of ceremony is it?”

“Sort of like a ‘welcome back’ banquet. Because it’s…been awhile since I’ve talked to her. It’s scheduled to happen later today and everyone is invited, too.”

“I’m in. Sounds like it could be fun.” Hyunjin merely shrugged while devouring nearly half of the macarons in her box. "And a nice break from all the crime fighting."

“Alright, guess I’m going, too.”

“Yay!! Thank you!” Jiwoo immediately engulfed Heejin in a tight bear hug, knocking the air out of her and nearly causing her to choke while she was swallowing the macaron she’d chewed. “You guys should go get ready! I’ll meet you two and everybody else in 40 minutes.”

With that being said, the hyper energetic girl quickly left the ward, leaving just the two detectives to ponder how they should prepare. Heejin set her box of macarons down before giving Haseul a call, while Hyunjin finished the last bite. After a few rings, their captain finally picked up the phone. Heejin didn’t have to say anything because Haseul already knew why the younger girl calling. She informed her that the ceremony is making headlines on the news because the company was extremely popular in Korea. Apparently, Jiwoo’s friend, Cha Juwon, was the CEO of Argus. The two detectives couldn’t help but feel shocked and surprised at the same time.

“Jiwoo’s friends with a _ CEO _? That’s insane.”

“Yeah, who knew it’d be one of the biggest industries in the country.”

“Well, better get going now then. Wouldn’t wanna waste time.”

“Haseul told me she already talked to Jiho about this so we’re basically excused!”

“Awesome.” Just when Hyunjin was about to get off her bed, Heejin’s phone suddenly chimed. Haseul had sent her a text message. “What’d she say?”

“Let’s see.”

Knowing that her captain is always serious with just about everything, Heejin immediately did as told and switched the TV on, the news already playing. Hyunjin sat down on the couch with her partner as they watched and listened carefully to what the reporter was saying. 

_ A grand ceremony is being held in the heart Gangnam for the welcoming back of Argus’s CEO, Cha Juwon. Argus is well known as the largest tech company in the world, many people have been anticipating for Cha’s return. However, the ceremony met with an unpleasant surprise. An anonymous civilian tipped us off about a possible gas leak at the event and police are looking into it now. With no solid evidence or signs of a gas leak, the event will continue, although under heavy surveillance. Spare officers from stations across the board have been called to duty at this event. Cha Juwon has yet commented on this matter. _

The two detectives shared a look with each other, wordlessly exchanging messages. Then they both averted their attention back to the TV. Who could’ve possibly informed about a gas leak and why? Despite them asking this question one or two times in their heads, the real inquiry was, why was there a gas leak? Heejin was the first to speak up after the minute long silence between them.

“Hm…how oddly sudden this is.”

“Yeah.”

“I hate to say this, but…my gut feeling is telling me Limbo might be responsible for it.

“Ugh, I can’t fight though.” Hyunjin grumbled and pouted, frowning when the memory of her getting beat up by Minkyung replayed in her head. 

“You remember anything about gas leaks?”

“No. Because I didn’t get to have a spot in that class.” 

“Couldn’t take the online course either?” That was when a thought struck the other girl. 

“Wait, I know someone who could fight for me AND is knowledgeable about gas leaks.” 

“They went to the academy with us?”

“Yeah uh…long story. She and I haven’t talked for a long time. Is anyone in our station knowledgeable about gas leaks?”

“As far as I’m concerned, I doubt it. They didn’t have the course available when Haseul, Sooyoung and Vivi were still training there.”

“Oh. Well I could call her, but…the last time we ever spoke to each other didn’t really end well.”

“You don’t have to give it a try if you’re not comfortable, you know.”

“No, I’ll do it. She might not respond back so I’ll see if my friend from high school will help.”

“And who’s that?”

“Ryujin.”

“Shin Ryujin?? The one who boxed the hell out of those gangsters who hit on her girlfriend??”

“Yep. That’s her.” 

Hyunjin chuckled at the memory of Ryujin becoming famous the next day she set foot in the academy that morning. Everyone practically cheered on for her, surrounding her table during lunch, giving the girl high fives and greetings in the hallway. Even today, she’s still remembered for that iconic incident. People still have no idea who those gangsters are or where they are now, but those idiots sure learned a very good lesson; never hit on people’s significant others. Hyunjin entered Ryujin’s phone number into her phone before hesitatingly pressing call, waiting patiently for the rings to stop. She was about to give up on the fourth ring until there was a click. A familiar voice came through the phone speakers 

_ “Officer Shin Ryujin speaking, how may I help you?” _

“Hey Ryu, it’s the superior Jin speaking—”

_ “I can’t be speaking to myself. Who are you?” _ Hyunjin knew just by her friend’s teasing tone, she was definitely smiling on the other end.

“It be like that, huh.” Heejin held back a laugh at this.

“_ It’s been so long! How are you, my favorite furry? Has everything been okay at your new station?” _ The joke was too much to handle and the older detective snorted and burst into laughter. Hyunjin rolled her eyes at the two idiots giggling at her before continuing. 

“Things are fine, sorta. How about you?” Hyunjin responded.

_ “Pretty boring, to be honest, but I do get to see Chaeryeong a lot so I don’t mind.” _ Ryujin said, before speaking again _ “Now cut to the reason for this call, Hyun. I know you well enough to be aware you wouldn’t dial my number just to catch up like this.” _

“Ok well, um…you’ve heard of Hyejoo’s disappearance case opening again, right?”

_ “Yeah, of course. Everyone’s heard of it. The news has reported you’ve been through crazy things lately, like last night. If you want to talk about it, Ryeong and I are here for you.” _

“It's fine, Ryu. Thanks for the offer, though. By the way, I was wondering if you could tell me about something. It’s really important.”

_ “Oh, sure. What is it?” _

“So…you remember when I told you about that one day when I came crying into your room? Back in our academy days?”

_ “Uuuuhhhh when some crow attacked you and took your donut during the morning??” _

“What?? No! I meant—you know! That one, one day I—”

_ “Hyun, just get to the point. You always come to my room crying whenever something bad happens to you.” _

“Alright, alright…do you know where Yeji works now?”

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


Moments later, the two detectives were inside Hyunjin’s car, the girl herself driving, of course. Heejin, like always, wanted to drive and promised that she wouldn’t be reckless as the last time she “drove.” But much to her protests, Hyunjin was smart enough not to trust her partner. Ever. Again. The older detective begrudgingly sat in the passenger while mentally complaining about having to put the other’s crap all the time. She could only sigh and waved all the thoughts out of her mind because they were just too tiring to think about right now. That was when she realized something she’d been meaning to ask Hyunjin since they left the hospital. 

“Hey, Kim.”

“What?”

“So this girl we’re visiting, who exactly is she?”

This was an unexpected question for the younger detective, but since she barely told Heejin anything about Yeji, it made sense why she was curious. Hyunjin let out long, deep exhale as the memory of their last interaction replayed in her head. It was quite complicated to explain with words, even if she tried so Hyunjin decided to keep it brief for now. 

“Yeji and I are childhood friends, or…was.” She slightly winced saying it like that, but it was kinda true. “I don’t know how she is now, but she was very cool and fun to hang out with. The bestest friend you could ever ask for.” Heejin nodded along, signalling her partner to continue. “She was selfless, caring, charismatic, and overall amazing. But, there are some sides to her. Yeji has some anger issues, so just be careful with that."

"Then what can I say when we get there?" 

"Justーkeep quiet." Heejin rolled her eyes before leaning back in her seat, crossing her arms again and looking out the window.

Hyunjin honestly didn't know what else to tell her partner, especially since she had no idea how Yeji was so there weren't any good predictions to what could happen in the near future. The rest of the ride was quiet while the soft ballad music played in the car's radio. There were some instances where the two detectives muttered under their breaths but never really conversed. Time passed by and Hyunjin finally spotted the location that Ryujin sent her through text. Heejin frowned when they got closer. It was a fire station. 

"You didn't tell me Yeji's a firefighter." 

"Well, now you know." With that being said, Hyunjin unbuckled her seatbelt and exited her car, followed by Heejin. 

The younger detective took out her phone to message Ryujin that she'd finally arrived at her destination, to which the officer responded with an 'ok'. The duo stood in the shade of a large tree just across from the entrance of the station, patiently waiting. Seconds passed and they could hear doors swinging open. Out came a girl with short black hair and some orange highlights. The officer was sporting a leather jacket with her badge on her belt, as well as gray shirt, skinny jeans and black converse. She was smiling charmingly as she waved in greeting.

"Yo, Hyunjinnie!!" The girl enthusiastically shouted to her friend before jogging to the detective and giving her a long needed hug. "It's been a while!"

“Should you be doing greetings like that when you just got out of the hospital?” Heejin spoke up worriedly from a little to the side.

“Wait, what?? You just got out of there?”

“Yes, but I’m fine now. Don’t worry.”

“Well of course I’m going to worry. Hyun, you know how Yeji can be….” Her heart weirdly sank at the little mention of her old friend’s name. The way Ryujin muttered it in a hushed voice made her feel like it was some sort of a taboo. “If something happens, you might end up crippled.”

“I-I—”

“Hi, Ryujin-sshi, I’m Heejin. Nice to meet you!”

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you, too! And Ryujin is just fine.”

Hyunjin was slightly thankful for her partner saving her from the awkwardness as the officer lead them into the fire station. Inside, it seemed quite busy since the area was somewhat crowded. Many people were working at their desks, speaking on the telephone, walking around with piles of paper in their hands, and overall minding their own business. It was the detectives’ first time at a fire station, so they didn’t know what to expect. Ryujin first lead them to a table that was utterly messy.

“Heh, sorry about this. My friends have a lot of work to finish.”

“Geez, what kind of work is it??” Hyunjin frowned at the large stacks of papers piled on the desk. 

“Just file checks and stuff.” Ryujin shrugged at the arched eyebrows directed at her before offering them some chairs to sit on. “Anyways, before you see Yeji, there’s something I need to inform you.”

“Like what?”

“She hates your guts.” This made Hyunjin close her eyes and sigh. Ryujin's lips formed a straight line while sympathetically rubbing her friend's shoulder.

“I knew it….”

“Yeah…so, what’re you planning on doing, Hyun? I can’t predict whether or not you’ll leave her office with a big bruise on your face.”

“If she wants to fight me, then so be it. But I need her help right now.”

“For what?”

“You heard on the news about a ceremony for the CEO of Argus that’s coming back from abroad right?”

“Oh yeah, saw it this morning.”

“And you know that they reported about a rumor of a gas leak that could potentially happen there? Which is why she’s requesting security from most units to come in and guard the place.”

“Hm, I guess I doze off after that.”

“So yeah, I was wondering if Yeji could help she knows more about this stuff than I do.”

“You don’t know anyone else?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

”I see. Well, can’t guarantee that she’ll agree to help out, but if anything happens, let me know.”

“Thank you, Ryu.”

“No problem! Here, follow me.”

  
  


Heejin threw a glance at her partner, who took a deep breath before standing up. Hyunjin returned a nervous look, to which the older detective gave her a quick pat on the shoulder before trailing behind Ryujin as she led them towards Yeji’s office. By the time they arrived, the younger officer quickly excused herself when her boss was calling her. Hyunjin and Heejin watched as she walked away, before directing their attention back to the door in front of them. 

“So…you want to open the door?” Heejin slightly backed up, earning an amused chuckle.

“Are you scared of her or what?”

“No, I’m just cautious about my injuries, Kim. And you should be, too. Considering what your old friend is capable of.”

“Ok, sure. She’s a good fighter and all, but Yeji knows better than that.”

“Are you sure? Her having anger issues doesn’t sound convincingly safe at all.”

“Look, Ryujin has our back, remember? This is better than doing nothing for the case.”

Quietly groaning, Heejin practically held her breath when Hyunjn turned the door knob and peeked into the dark room, barely lit. The only light source were the windows that were covered in blinds as the sunlight illuminated everything through the gaps. Hyunjin carefully opened the door, trying her best to make no sounds as much as possible while ushering her partner to quickly get inside. Afterwards, the younger detective quietly shut the door as Heejin decided to stay in the back, awkwardly eyeing the sleeping figure on the desk before her. Hyunjin slowly approached Yeji, who was softly snoring while laying flat on her counter. Oddly enough, the fire fighter didn’t have any blankets, so the detectives could see her wearing a gray tank top, jeans, and leather boots.

She looked so peaceful, even though her desk seemed quite uncomfortable to sleep on. Hyunjin felt a little emotional seeing her old friend again after so long, thinking back to when they were fast friends. She couldn’t believe it herself, but Hyunjin missed Yeji, especially after she suddenly left that one day during their time in the academy. The younger detective was hoping that this meeting will help her find out the reason why. Hyunjin was about to speak when Yeji stirred. 

“Ryujin…get out…I’m trying to…get my beauty sleep.” She yawned while trying to make herself comfortable on the table, adjusting the pillow under her head. 

“Yeji.” 

It felt like a sudden surge of tension had risen in the room and even though Heejin barely knew their background, she could sense it, too, and slightly backed away more. Hyunjin stood still while balling up her hands into a fist, getting ready in case she suddenly lashes out. She visibly froze when Yeji opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds before turning her head to a cold glare directly at her. Even though the room barely had any light, Hyunjin could clearly see how her old friend’s eyes were void of emotions, which wasn’t very welcoming. Before all of this, she remembered what Yeji had told her the day she left the academy, but Hyunjin couldn’t recall the reasons why. 

They remained looking at each other for a full minute, which felt like hours. Their little staring contest came to an end when Yeji, surprisingly, calmly shifted on the desk and turned her back on her. The younger detective frowned at this and approached nearer, only to be suddenly stopped.

“_Don’t_ _you dare_ come any closer….” The firefighter scowled after hearing the sound of Hyunjin’s footsteps. Her tone was dead serious, so the detective stopped in her tracks.

“Yeji….”

“You better have a good reason to show your face to me right now.” That hurt to hear. 

“…I just need help.”

“Go ask someone who actually cares.”

“Yeji—”

“Get out.” Yeji opened her eyes again.

“Let me explain!”

“Explain what? That after all these years, you want us to become friends again?”

“Not like I ever had the chance….”

Sighing, Yeji reluctantly raised up from her desk, stretching her arms and torso that were a little cramped from her sleeping on the hard stool. She tossed her pillow to the side and hopped off the table before settling down on her chair, switching the light on. The two detectives were relieved that there was finally no more darkness in the room, until they saw Yeji still glaring at Hyunjin. 

“I don’t have time to deal with you right now.”

“Look, Yeji, you can hate me all you want, but there are lives at stake.”

“I have other stuff to worry about.”

“Please. If there’s anything you want from me, then I’ll give it to you. After we’re done with this mission.”

“What _ I _ want? Since when did you care so much, Miss Perfect?”

“Since forever.”

“Oh really? All those years ago, you’d made it very clear that I was such a bother to you.”

“That was misunderstanding! You blew it out of proportion.”

“‘Stop talking to me. I’m busy.’ How is that a misunderstanding??”

“I literally just asked you because I was trying to focus, it’s not my fault you took it as an insult!”

“You expect me to be nice to you when you’re trying to blame me now?”

“I didn’t tell you to be nice to me.”

“Well, you certainly shouldn’t expect me to say yes to your crappy request.” Hyunjin let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Look. I’ve put our past disagreements behind me. My point is…I really want to be friends again. Whatever I did in the past, I’m sorry if I hurt you in any way.”

“…you don’t remember?”

“Well…what am I supposed to remember?”

“You never helped me when I needed you the most…especially that one day, I….”

“When you what?” Yeji sighed and frowned, staring down at her desk. 

“…when I broke off the friendship I had with the group.”

“Oh…you never told me why when you left so suddenly.”

* * *

  
  


_ 5 years ago… _

_   
  
_

_ It was a snowy day when Yeji and her friends were getting for more physical training in close combat for their upcoming exam. She was sitting in the locker room getting ready, tying a bandage around her knuckles and wrists so they don’t get too sore after practice today. Yeji had her hair up in a ponytail, wore a black tank top, jogger pants and fitness shows. Seoyeon, Chaeyoung and Nagyung were there preparing as well, taking sips of water and also wrapping their hands with bandages. _

_ “Hey Yeji, be careful today. You really went rough on that punching bag last week and coach had to buy a new one.” Chaeyoung mused while laughing at the memory of their instructor's face when she saw the bag snap in half from Yeji’s kick. _

_ “But I gotta say, that was really impressive.” Seoyeon was in awe at her friend’s strength, wondering how anyone can be so valiant. _

_ “Don’t worry, my limbs will be fine. They’ve become a little bit sore though.” _

_ “Here, use these! They help a lot with bruises. Sure saved me some torture after I got a bruise from my fall the other day.” Yeji was given some bottle of cream by Nagyung and slightly blushed at the gesture. _

_ “Guess you could say…you were a ‘pain in the ass.’” _

_ “YEJI!” Seoyeon and Chaeyoung bursted into laughter while the smaller girl started slapping her arms as she recoiled in pain and tried to protect herself from it. _

_ “Ow ow!! Sorry—sorry!” Nagyung finally stopped, much to her relief and pouted as she rubbed her arm. _

_ “Meanie.” _

_ “Aww, I didn’t mean to make you upset.” Yeji cupped Nagyung’s face in her hands and cooed at her, despite her arm feeling like it was on fire. _

_ “Get a room, folks! Because we gotta hurry up before coach makes us do 5 laps around the gym again. Meet you at the line!” Seoyeon quickly ran off for the coach to where the coach was taking attendance. _

_ “You guys ready?” Chaeyoung questioned as she got up from the bench. _

_ “Yeah, let’s go.” Yeji stood on her feet and held her hand out to Nagyung while smiling. She gladly took her hand and returned the same enthusiasm, then all three of them followed Seoyeon into the gym. _

_ Rigorous practice lasted for about 2 hours and everyone was completely worn out. Well, except for Yeji, of course. She was basically always the last one standing and a lot people referred to her as Wonder Woman. The girl was very helpful towards those who needed it most, but she was pretty much nice to everyone. Whenever someone requested for some assistance, she would be there for them. But other than that, Yeji definitely knew how to help herself most of the time. Despite being at a young age, many looked up to her as a role model. _

_ “How the heck are you still alive?” Seoyeon stood next to her while her hands were still on her knees, panting while her throat felt parched after being deprived of water for a while. _

_ “Just power through.” _

_ She chuckled at her friend’s wide eyes before taking Seoyeon’s arms and put it around her neck to support her balance. As class was nearing an end, their coach suddenly called everyone up to surround the fighting mat for a little spar. They were about to exit the gym, groaning in frustration as they, besides Yeji, begrudgingly dragged themselves back. _

_ “Alright, to conclude today’s lessons, I’m going to analyze your skills to see what you can improve before you move on to the next grade the following year. But today, instead of getting to choose your sparring partners like usual, I will be randomly picking partners for you!” The instructor announced, and the class let out a collective groan as they seated before the thin platform. _

_ “Ugh, could this day get any worse?” Seoyeon mutter quietly, causing Yeji to chuckle. _

_ “Hwang!” The coach gestured for her to get on the mat for the spar. _

_ Usually, a lot of people would choose to participate in the spar for fun, but ever since Yeji became a new student in the academy, everyone became scared of her. Sighing, the coach looked around to see all of her students being intimidated by the strong fighter. Yeji stood patiently on the sidelines, waiting to be called up to the mat after the coach finished deciding her opponent. She didn’t care who it was, as long as she was paired with someone who’s willing to give a good fight. _

_ “Nagyung. You’re up, too.” Never mind. She did care. _

_ Chaeyoung, Seoyeon, and Yeji all widened their eyes, staring at Nagyung, who was now sweating bullets. Despite this, she felt like she could trust her strong friend and hoping everything will be fine. Yeji would usually give it her all whenever she was in a spar with anyone else, but maybe today she should cool it down, just for Nagyung. She knew the smaller girl wasn’t interested in learning about combat, only taking the course so she could get the credit requirement. Her thoughts were interrupted when their coach blew the whistle, signaling for them to start. Yeji hesitated for a second, allowing Nagyung to throw the first punch. Should she go easy on Nagyung? That wouldn’t be fair right? She shook her head and caught the punch. _

_ Yeji was about to gently wrestle Nagyung to ground, only for a fist to suddenly meet her face. She stumbled back, bewildered at what just happened. Everyone collectively gasped and murmured as Yeji looked back to see the smaller girl smirking mischievously at her. This sparked something in the older girl as she began smiling, too. Then, she positioned herself in a battling pose and charged forward. Nagyung was already ready and ducked from Yeji’s punch before tripping her. The older girl nearly lost her balance but was able to thankfully stay inside the mat. _

_ She turned around, Nagyung still smiling giddly, her energy making Yeji chuckle. This time, the smaller girl charged at her, attempting to punch her. With little difficulty, Yeji caught her by the wrist and knocked her legs out from under her opponent with one powerful sweep. Nagyung yelped as she fell, barely bracing for impact last minute. However, before she could really hit the ground, she quickly gripped onto Yeji’s collar, tugging her down with her. The older girl instinctively moved her hands behind Nagyung’s head and back to prevent her from getting injured. They both fell on the floor together, grunting upon impact. Not only that, they nearly touched lips. Yeji’s eyes grew wide, still trying to process what just happened while her cheeks turned bright red. _

_ “H-hey….” Nagyung giggled at her stuttering. _

_ “Hi…Yeddongie.” The nickname sounded so right coming from her. Especially her. _

_ “…so uh…that was impressive.” _

_ “Thanks. Y-you, too.” Yeji cracked a smile when she saw the girl blushing as well. _

_ Their little moment was interrupted when their coach blew the whistle, announcing the match was over and Yeji quickly stood up before offering her a hand. Nagyung accepted it and was hauled to her feet, surprised how quick it was. She wasn’t sure whether or not that was short term a few moments ago, but she nearly forgot how strong Yeji was. Still tomato red from earlier, Nagyung shyly, but quickly excused herself to the locker room, with Chaeyoung following behind her. The older girl chuckled at this as Seoyeon approached with a knowing smile. _

_ “Come on, let’s get out of here already. I wanna go home.” _

_ The two entered the locker room as well, seeing Chaeyoung and Nakyung sitting on the bench. As they neared closer, Yeji noticed how flirtatious they were towards each other. She’s had a crush on Nagyung ever since she first met her, which was during lunch when Hyunjin introduced her to her new friend group. It consisted of Saerom, Seoyeon, Chaeyoung and Nagyung. It was hard to ignore the smaller girl’s beauty, especially when the sun shined on her like a spotlight. Yeji fell for her instantly. _

_ But there were some complications. Chaeyoung was also infatuated with Nagyung and was unaware of her competition with Yeji. Whenever the younger girl was free, both of them would always try to ask her to hang out. Half the times, Yeji would be successful and spend most of their trip making Nagyung as happy as she could. But whenever Chaeyoung got her chance, Yeji would dread every bit of it, feeling like a loser while watching the two acting like lovebirds. There were occasions where she would make it seem like she and Nagyung were married couples, much to Chaeyoung’s unseen glances at them. Though, despite this, Yeji still considered the two dear to her because of how close they immediately became after Hyunjin introduced them to each other that school day. _

_ So, needless to say, she liked Nagyung. A lot. Every lingering gazes and smiles that Nagyung gave her made Yeji think that she liked her, too. She let out a huff at the sight, which caught Seoyeon’s attention. The girl obviously knew of Yeji’s crush on Nagyung, but never wanted to say anything because she was waiting to see if they would do something about it. But now, Seoyeon wasn’t sure whether that was a good idea anymore. _

_ “They’ve been like that since they met, you know.” She commented, noticing Yeji’s agitated expression and her two other friends being flirty with each other, quickly connecting the dots. _

_ “That’s amazing.” Yeji‘s voice was monotone. _

_ Seeing her crush flirting with her competitor was an unpleasant sight, she even felt angry just seeing them act like that so openly, as if she wouldn’t do that with Nagyung, too. She wished Hyunjin was here right now, she would’ve understood how she felt. Yeji wanted to leave soon, but not without Nagyung, of course. When the small girl’s sight was on her, it looked like she was about to say something to Yeji, Chaeyoung picked her up with a toothy smile as Nagyung hit her shoulder with a matching grin. When the tall girl finally set her down, Yeji quickly asked a question. _

_ “Hey Nakko, wanna go get ice cream after this?” She offered Nagyung while holding her hand, who gratefully accepted. _

_ “Sure! I haven’t eaten any for a while.” _

_ “But it’s winter, eating ice cream isn’t a good idea.” Chaeyoung pitched in and notified them of it, which ticked off Yeji. “Let’s go to the cafe instead, they have warm coffee and hot chocolate.” _

_ “Oh, you’re right. That does actually sound nice right now.” _

_ “I’ll pay for your drink.” Yeji immediately, and impulsively, offered. Everyone looked towards her with surprised looks, since that was something she never did before. Seoyeon arched an eyebrow, as if warning her friend, Chaeyoung narrowed her eyes, while Nagyung chuckled before waving it off. _

_ “It’s alright, Yeji, I can pay for myself.” _

_ “…fine. Would you like to hang out tomorrow, then? I’m free all day if you want to.” _

_ “Sure! I’ll have to check my schedule though.” _

_ Nagyung got out her phone from her pocket and looked through the calendar to see if there was anything she had marked for a certain day. Meanwhile, Seoyeon and Chaeyoung noticed the odd atmosphere between them. They both shared a look towards each other before looking back at Yeji, who kept her eyes on Nagyung. That was when Chaeyoung saw and realized; Yeji was in love with her as well. She never expected something like this would happen before, but thinking back to when Nagyung was always with Yeji, she couldn’t help but feel jealous. This whole time it was a competition and Yeji was about to win again. Feeling a little persistent, Chaeyoung decided to pitch in. _

_ “Nagyungie, there’s a new movie coming out next week in the theatres, wanna come with me?” The taller girl felt Yeji’s subtle glare on her, but continued on. “We can go to that amusement park you’ve been wanting to visit.” _

_ “Nakko and I already planned for that, Chae.” _

_ “Uh—” _

_ “She can go again with me, Yeji.” She didn’t give Nagyung a chance to start speaking. _

_ “That depends if she has time.” _

_ “She always has time for me.” _

_ “Me, too.” _

_ “You can’t be so sure.” _

_ “What makes you say that?” _

_ “Because she likes me more.” _

_ Seoyeon and Nagyung were wide eyed now, having absolutely no idea what to say or do about this sudden intense situation. It only got worse when both Yeji and Chaeyoung stood up from their seats, glaring menacingly at each other. They suddenly went from being close friends to arch-nemeses within mere seconds. Nagyung was too scared to do anything, but Seoyeon attempted to break the tension between them. _

_ “Hey, guys…let’s please cool it down, ok?” _

_ She stepped in between, her back face Yeji while holding her hands up to try and keep them from doing something. However, it was hard to predict they’ll stop because both of them were still having a staring contest, stubbornly determined to win no matter what. Yeji clenched her fists and jaw while Chaeyoung was starting to breathe heavily. Tensions were still rising. _

_ “I don’t think you know what you’re talking about, Chae.” _

_ “I sure as hell do.” _

_ “But you’re dead wrong.” _

_ “Of course you would say that.” _

_ “You’re going too far with this.” _

_ “Well we both can’t have her.” _

_ “You can’t just say she likes you more as if it’s so true. That’s up for her to decide.” Seoyeon and Nagyung couldn’t believe what they were hearing right now. “Watch where you’re going.” _

_ “I should be telling _ ** _you_ ** _ , Hwang Yeji. You really had to ‘give it your all’ on Nakko today?” _

_ “I didn’t even hurt her!” _

_ “Tch, whatever, she’s already decided.” _

_ “No she hasn’t.” _

_ “You’re calling me a liar or what?” _

_ “Maybe I am.” _

_ “So what are you gonna do about it??” That tore it. _

_ Yeji impulsively shoved her backwards, making Chaeyoung stumble and fall. She opened her mouth to apologize, but before she could, Chaeyoung had got back on her feet and was swinging a punch right at her. She blocked it with her arms before striking Chaeyoung in the face with her fist, sending her falling to the ground. Seoyeon and Nagyung let out a mix of surprise and shock yelps. Before Yeji could do anything anymore, Seoyeon quickly stopped her from marching up towards the taller girl on the floor, her lip now bleeding as Nagyung tried helping her up. Everyone in the same locker room were now surrounding the scene to see what happened. Some people in the crowd included Chaewon, Heejin and Ryujin, all shocked when they saw blood and an agitated Yeji being held back Seoyeon. They quickly put the puzzle pieces together and figured out what was going on. Yeji, on the other hand, looked around at the eyes boring holes into her. That was when she realized what she had just done and immediately regretted it. _

_ “I-I—I’m sorry, I—” The moment Chaeyoung recovered from the punch, she instantly pounced on Yeji, tackling her to the ground. _

_ The next thing everyone knew, both of the students were wrestling and fighting each other. Ryujin and Seoyeon quickly tried to break them up while Nagyung was slightly tearing up at the sight. Despite their efforts, both Yeji and Chaeyoung still latched on, constantly trading punches and kicks. Ryujin successfully pried Yeji off while Seoyeon was having difficulties holding her taller friend from marching back for more. Both her and her opponent now had bruised faces and some cuts. Chaeyoung pried Seoyeon off her before grabbing Yeji’s collar. _

_ The other girl shoved her Chaeyoung back once again, trying to create distance between them. It wasn’t soon before they were both on the ground and exchanging punches. At one point Yeji managed to throw Chaeyoung off her and into the lockers, causing the back of her head to smash against them. Ryujin and Seoyeon quickly intercepted them again. _

_ “Both of you, stop this now!!” _

_ Ryujin shouted to get their attention, but it was no use. Chaeyoung released herself from Seoyeon’s grasp once again and roughly yanking Yeji by the arm, slamming her into the lockers. The younger groaned in pain, only to strike Chaeyoung’s side, prying the taller off of her and jabbed a fist towards her face. Afterwards, they continued fighting again, much to Ryujin and Seoyeon trying to stop them. Every time they did, they would either take a punch to the jaw or be kicked away while trying to intercept the fight. Now, all they could do was watch the brawl unfold, fearing for their friends’ lives if their coach were to step in right and witness this happening. _

_ However, the fight quickly ended when Yeji caught Chaeyoung’s punch and grabbed her arm, tugging her over her back and slamming the girl down on the bench, hitting her spine. All of the hardwood snapped in half as Chaeyoung layed there in a mess. Everyone was completely shocked at what they had just witnessed. Yeji had just knocked her unconscious as Ryujin and Seoyeon tried to get her to wake up, sighing in relief that she was still breathing. What happened next was surprising as their instructor finally arrived to the scene, a knocked out Chaeyoung immediately before looking up at Yeji. Her lip, knuckles, nose and forehead were bleeding, her right eyebrow was cut, and a bruise was formed around her left eye. _

_ By the time everything cleared out and Chaeyoung was awake, they were requested to the superintendent’s office. The two were seat on separate chairs beside each other, listening to the highest authoritative figure before them, Kim Taeyeon. Her assistant, Lee Chaeyeon, stood beside her while staring blankly at the two mischiefs. Their interrogation felt like hours to no end, yet it ended faster than they expected. But not the way they’d wished things would’ve turned out _

_   
  
_

_ \- _

_   
  
  
_

_ Yeji was packing up all of her belongings in her shared dorm with Hyunjin. The other girl was nowhere to be seen, so it was just her all alone in their bedroom. She was void of any emotions since there weren’t much tears left to shed and it was too tiring to think about anything right now. She couldn’t forgive herself after what she did, the shocked expressions on her friends’ faces were haunting. She was sure none of them wanted to see her now, so, without any other choices, it was time to leave for good. Yeji forgot how to feel emotions after visiting the superintendent, who notified her of her expulsion from the police academy. _

_ She was expected to clean out her dorm by the end of today. She would’ve gotten off the hook if not for her previous reckless behavior and warnings. She didn’t care about her pride anymore and let the waterworks flow as soon as she stepped out of the office. This was her dream. Hyunjin’s too, ever since they were able to walk and talk. But it was all over now. She was only a freshman in high school when she and Hyunjin had signed up for the criminal justice institution. It was next leap in their lives growing up together and they couldn’t wait to graduate by the end of their senior year. Only, that never happened. Hyunjin was always so busy about her education in high school and especially in the academy. She and Yeji had always dreamed of becoming police officers and detectives when they were still in elementary school, but maturing into young adults was one thing. Yeji became more emotional and insecure about some things she personally didn’t want to talk about with anyone else, besides Hyunjin, of course. The younger girl, however, being too busy with work, couldn’t have much time to hang out with Yeji, which in turn frustrated the older. _

_ Even when Hyunjin did have “free time”, she used it to participate in extracurricular activities outside of school and the academy, in hopes to hone her skills and knowledge faster to get ahead in her life. She was very serious about becoming a police officer one day, so she had to at least be one of the top best students to achieve that goal. Hyunjin only got busier when Jeon Heejin notably became her rival, it was like feuding with her own reflection in the mirror. Their opposite personalities clashed, even their fellow classmates occasionally pinned them against each other, adding more fuel to the fire. Yeji, of course, somewhat participated in this, constantly siding with Hyunjin as her best friend. But that, too, took a toll on her. The younger girl never made time to hang out with Yeji, even when she received a lot of text messages that were either left unread until days later or simply read and ignored. She stopped scrolling when a small conversation between her and Hyunjin. It was when Yeji was asking about some homework that was due the next day and she forgot to finish it. _

_ _

_ But it wasn’t like Hyunjin did it on purpose. Every time she would try and respond, she’d be interrupted by someone. Though most of the time, her teacher would tell her to put her phone away. It happened so often that Hyunjin got tired of it and rarely used her phone, much to Yeji’s despair, since that’s what they’d often used to communicate with each other back in middle school. They drifted further apart from each other then, only speaking to when they met back in their dorms, which were also rare occasions since Hyunjin wouldn’t be back until 10PM because of the extra clubs she took part in. Yeji was always arrive to their dorm right after her classes, so she always questioned why Hyunjin was so serious about this police stuff. She initially thought it was because of her rivalry with Heejin, but knowing Hyunjin, that would be a terrible excuse. _

_ Other than that, times became very gloomy during her sudden expulsion from the academy. When the younger ambitious girl arrived back to her dorm after hearing about what the superintendent said about Yeji, she immediately ditched her classes to rush back, only to find it empty of her friend’s belongings, even checking their shared room. Half of the closet was gone, the desk across from hers was bare of Yeji’s figurines, and the familiar Pikachu blanket on her bed was gone. Hyunjin felt her heart drop before quickly checking her phone incase Yeji said anything. And sure enough, she did. _

** _Goodbye._ **

_ Hyunjin didn’t hesitate any longer before running down many flights of stairs to finally reached the doors to the academy, bursting through it to see Yeji already exiting the gates. The younger girl quickly sped away to catch up to her friend, many questions popping up into her head. She called out Yeji’s name, making the girl stop in her tracks, but not look back. By the time Hyunjin finally caught up, her throat was parched from the cold, winter air. _

_ “Yeji…what happened? Why are you leaving??” _

_ “…….” _

_ “Please…talk to me. Why did they expel you?” _

_ “…it’s not like you care anyways.” _

_ “What? What do you mean, of course I care, Yeji.” _

_ “No you don’t!” This time, the older turned around, tears filling her eyes. _

_ “Why wouldn’t I care??” _

_ “You never did. Don’t you see? We barely talked ever since we signed up for this fucking academy because you’re always so busy with everything, even when you were free…you never made any time for us. I thought we were best friends, Hyunjin.” _

_ “What— of course, we’re best friends. We’ll always be, that’s what we promised each other a few years ago.” _

_ “Well…that promise was meant to be broken then. I can’t do this anymore. I’m going home.” _

_ “What?? Yeji! At least tell me what happened! You can’t just leave like this.” Hyunjin desperately grabbed her friend’s wrist, somehow finding warmth in the contact despite the bitter cold. _

_ “…just…go ask Seoyeon…since you never look at my text messages anyways.” _

_ “But Yeji, I—” _

_ “Goodbye.” _

_ Yeji moved her wrist from Hyunjin’s grasp and walked away. The other girl knew she couldn’t stop her, no matter how much she wanted to. Hyunjin watched as her best friend disappeared down the street and out of her life. She reentered her formerly shared dorm with Yeji, breaking down into tears after entering her room, laying down on the bed that her best friend once occupied. Hyunjin didn’t realize how tired she was and slept throughout the whole day, missing the rest of her classes and her club meetups. She found herself waking up in the morning with a splitting headache and had to call out for today, which the school easily excused since she’s always working and participating in extracurriculars here and there. It took her 3 days to rest from her fever, but that empty feeling was gnawing at her. _

_ Yeji never returned her calls or texts, and eventually, it seemed like she changed her phone number since it was no longer available for her to contact. Without Hyunjin knowing, Yeji transferred to another school, still trying to figure out her life while seeing a therapist at the same time. Eventually, she buried the memories of her time in the academy deep in her mind, hoping it’ll be forgotten. Yeji moved on studying to become a firefighter and applied for a job at a local fire station that was in need of more employees. As for Hyunjin, it took her awhile to move on as a few weeks after her best friend left, she got a new roommate. The girl was especially nice and understanding of Hyunjin’s situation, even offering some help and counseling. _

_ Fast forward 3 years, they became close friends and graduated together with their mashed up groups. Hyunjin became closely aqccuainted with most of the girl’s friends, whom she was previously enemies with. And despite the years that passed by since Yeji left, Hyunjin never forgot about her and continued wondering where her old best friend was. She always thought that maybe she’ll never see her again. _

* * *

The room was dead silent after Yeji retold her short history of what her time in the academy was like before her whole life practically broke down. Hyunjin was speechless to say anything, so was Heejin, unaware that she was slightly involved in this. Sure, her rivalry with her partner usually got out of hand at times, but never did she expect it to have such an impact on someone like Yeji. Despite not knowing much about the firefighter, Heejin felt bad. Especially when she was there to witness the fight between her and Chaeyoung, but didn’t help break them up before it was too late. Hyunjin frowned after her old friend finished speaking, not knowing what to say that could uplift the mood in the room. 

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t know.” Hyunjin looked completely torn and frowned. 

“Now do you get it? Why we never stayed in contact?”

“I…ok, I was not expecting that whole story. But, you could’ve at least told me at that time. You know Seoyeon would’ve been sort of biased. And—you struck first after all….”

“I’ve changed to a better person and it’s going to stay that way. Now what do you want? There’s almost no guarantee you’ll get it, but I’ll do what you never did and listen.” Yeji’s voice was still icy, especially after having to retell the whole story of her being kicked out, it felt like reliving that hellish experience. The expression of a kicked puppy flashed across Hyunjin’s face before she steeled herself. Heejin wanted to step in at that moment, not liking how the situation was. But before she could, Hyunjin spoke up.

“I know I can make it up to you. It may not be much, but if there’s even a little forgiveness, I’ll take the risk.”

“How?”

“Because I know you have a big heart, Yeji. There _ are _ really lives at stake right now. And since you said you’ve changed to a better person, can you at least prove that?” The firefighter sighed at this before leaning her head back onto her chair before standing up, walking over her table to lean against it and crossing her arms as they continue their conversation. 

“Well, have you changed, too?”

“Yeah. Pretty much. Just give me this one chance to show you I do care about you. If you aren’t convinced by the end of it, I’ll leave you alone for…f-for good.” Yeji contemplated the offer for painstaking silent seconds before she leaned back in her seat.

“…what’s in it for me if I agree to this?”

“We’ll…be friends again.”

“Hm. Sure.”

“Oh um…that also reminds me. Have you seen the news about last night?”

“Who watches late night news?”

“Uh, lots of people??”

“Ugh whatever, get to the point already.” Yeji turned around to sort stuff on desk, facing her back towards Hyunjin and Heejin. The two detectives shared a look, the older arching an eyebrow at what her partner was planning to say. 

“I was hoping you’d know, but…a lot happened at noon yesterday. Nagyung was stabbed.” The firefighter ceased to move right after hearing that, raising her head before turning around to look at Hyunjin. The younger detective could tell Yeji was devastated just by her expression; it was shock mixed with anger. 

“What? I-is she ok? How did—”

“Nagyung’s fine. The doctor said she’ll wake up soon, but we’re still unsure.”

“W-wha…what about Chaeyoung? And Seoyeon? Everyone.”

  
  


_ She still cares. _

  
  


“They’re alright, don’t worry. You know, I was thinking…maybe once we’re done with this mission, you can have a chance to see them again. We’ve missed you, Yeji.”

“But—why would they want to see me…? I only hurt them.”

“They’ve moved on, you can trust that fact. I will do my best to prove to you I’m willing to be friends again. So, wanna help me?” 

Hyunjin held out her hand, patiently waiting for her old pal to accept. A part of her felt like she’d decline the contact because she knows they have a lot to catch up on after 5 whole years of no connections. But knowing Yeji, there was a chance. An uncertain chance. And to Hyunjin’s relief, she feels a hand grasp hers, gripping just as tightly as she held it. 

“Let’s do it.” This made the younger detective smile. 

“Hey um, sorry to ruin the moment, but we gotta get going, Kim.” Heejin sighed in relief before walking to stand by Hyunjin’s side and linking their index fingers. That was quite an emotional beating she just took and Heejin wasn’t sure how to comfort her, so she just decided to show she was there if her partner needed it. 

Both friends looked towards her, sheepishly rubbing her neck as she slightly flinched when both of their attentions were on her. Hyunjin narrowed her eyes at her before they rolled back as she sighed, still keeping their index fingers intertwined though. Yeji, on the other hand, was star struck at _ the _ Jeon Heejin standing in her office right now. She remembered interacting with her at least once during the police academy before she left. Upon seeing Heejin, Yeji placed her hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder before moving her to the side as she approached the older detective, their eyes locked on each other. She was smiling like a dork and grabbed both of Heejin’s hands, holding them up at chest level. 

“You must be the famous detective, Jeon Heejin! It’s a pleasure to meet you. And can I say, you’re much more beautiful in person.” 

“U-uh, I—”

“What is a masterpiece like you doing out of the Louvre?” Yeji smiled charmingly and Heejin stood struck for a second before she smiled bashfully, shifting her head to the side to hide her blushing. 

“Parles-tu Français?” Heejin asked, realizing that she knew of the museum and possibly the country it’s located. 

“Uh…I don’t know what you just said but that was super hot.”

Yeji made a toothy smirk as the girl’s eyes before her were wide. Heejin was rather perplexed, since she didn’t expect the firefighter to be infatuated with her. The detective let out a shy giggle, both of them seemingly forgetting Hyunjin was in the same room as them, ironically. Speaking of the younger detective, she was not amused with this in the slightest and rather cringed at what she was currently watching.

“Ahem! We don’t have time for this.” 

Hyunjin rolled her eyes again before walking between them and opened the door to exit out of Yeji’s office, not realizing someone else was about to enter. And before they realized it, Hyunjin bumped into the person and papers flew everywhere around them. By the time she realized, the woman was on the floor as Hyunjin quickly helped her up. But to her utter surprise, it was Choi Jisu, aka the most famous lawyer, Lia. A frustrated expression was evident on her face as she looked down at all the papers, that took hours to organize, spread out everywhere. On the table, shelves, beneath her shoes, etc. 

“Oh great, thanks for that, sherlock.” Hyunjin was taken aback by the sass as she watched Lia pick up her files one by one.

“Uh let me help you! Sorry for not watching where I was going.”

Yeji and Heejin quickly joined in to assist them as well. Within a few minutes, they finally assembled all of the papers and handed them to Lia, neatly lined up and stacked. The lawyer sighed before giving them to Yeji, informing her that they were instructed to be given to her to look over in the meantime. 

"The council said all of this is for you, Hwang Yeji. They need you to report back by next week, so get it done." 

"U-uh thanks?" Yeji quickly accepted all of the papers before quickly walking into her office to place them on her table and exiting back out." 

Lia then informed her she was going to leave now, but didn’t forget to call out her intern’s name, Shin Yuna. The tall, young girl appeared from Ryujin’s desk area and by Lia’s side. Heejin immediately recognized the girl because she was in Yeojin’s friend group. The taller girl was known to be very energetic, quite fitting for someone like Yeojin.

“Oh! Heejin-unnie! What are you doing here?” Yuna’s eyes widened in surprise and giddily waved at the older girl.

“I’m here for a mission. I’m surprised to see you here.”

“Ah that’s right! I’m Lia sunbaenim’s intern.”

“Wow.” There were only so many surprises Heejin could deal with right now. 

“We must be on our way now before we’re late. Let’s go, Yuna.” Lia was already walking away, not bothering to wait for the others to say goodbye to her. The red-haired high schooler quickly waved goodbye to her friends before catching up to the lawyer. They watched as the two exited the fire station as Yeji spoke up. 

“Alright. Before we start anything, tell me about this mission you’re doing.”

“You know that popular eye-tech company Argus? Their CEO, Cha Juwon, is coming back from overseas after a long time so there’s going to be a huge ceremony for her. But the thing is, us and our station are requested to watch out for a rumored gas leak incase anything happens.” Hyunjin filled her in on the important information as Heejin added on. 

“We’re also going undercover for this because our captain suspects the gas leak might be deliberately caused.”

“Wow. This is some serious shit, huh?”

“Yep. And we gotta hurry, don’t wanna keep them waiting for longer.”

“Wait! Before we go, I need to notify my boss about this, so then she’ll be ready to help if the gas leak ever happens.”

“Can you call her on our way there? We’re running late.”

“Ugh, fine.”

With that being said, the trio were finally making their way to a yellow car. Once they were inside and buckled up, Hyunjin peeled out of the parking lot before finally designating towards the grand ceremony of the well-known CEO, Cha Juwon. Yeji sat in the backseat while Heejin on the passenger seat while Hyunjin carefully navigated through the roads. 

“Hey since we’re going to this ceremony, shouldn’t we at least dress nicely?”

“We’ll be fine. Haseul said she’s already prepared some outfits for us to choose and go undercover.” Yeji sighed in relief at Heejin’s reassurance. 

“Thank god, I look like I just came out of a motor shop.” This made the older detective giggle. 

Afterwards, the two traded some questions to get to know each other more. This, of course, included some flirtatious stuff here and there as Hyunjin wanted disappear from this conversation. She couldn’t deal with anymore cheesy pickup lines that mostly came from Yeji. There was one crucial thing that she forgot about her old friend; she was a huge flirt towards girls. Hyunjin sighed for the fiftieth time as Yeji and Heejin exchanged more flirtatious comments. She dealt with the torturous conversation some more, she finally arrived to where Haseul instructed them to meet up. And to her relief, everyone in their station were already waiting outside since the ceremony was just about to begin. The trio quickly hopped out of the car and walked up towards the group. They were dressed in fancy attire compared to them, still unprepared.

“You two are lucky there’s still a whole closet of clothes in the dressing room for us. Geez, at least prepare next time.”

“Sorry we’re late, we had some complications on the way but I found someone who could help us watch out for the gas leak.” Hyunjin informed her captain, who raised both of her eyebrows in surprise. 

“Who?”

“Er, this is Yeji, a close friend of mine.”

“Pleased to meet you, Haseul-sshi. I’m Hyunjin’s acquaintance, actually.” She subtly corrected the younger detective, who was slightly offended by this as Heejin chuckled at Yeji.

“It’s nice to meet you, too! And thank you very much for coming to help us today with this. If you don’t mind, once you’re done dressing up, can you educate me more about gas leaks?”

“Of course, I’d be happy to help.”

“Hey, Haseul, where’s Jiwoo at?” Heejin chimed in to question.

“She said she’s meeting with the Argus’s CEO right now to talk or something.”

“Ah, alright.”

More people began crowding up the area as the grand ceremony was starting soon. Yeji, Heejin and Hyunjin quickly got changed in the dressing room in a few minutes, just as the host began his announcement. Then, the trio appeared from behind the curtains, dramatically walking out wearing fancy attires. Hyunjin was wearing black tux and a white, frilly turtleneck, shiny black shoes, and eye-catching pearl earrings. Heejin dressed in a classy outfit, with a black and white striped shirt, dark pants, and a belt securely wrapped around her waist. Yeji, on the other hand, was wearing a white, slightly puffy, thin long sweater, black skinny jeans and shoulder straps. Her hair was also still tied in a ponytail.

“How come you’re the only one not dressed formally besides us?” Hyunjin chuckled when looked at herself and the other two.

“I never liked to, they’re never comfortable.”

“Hm, if you say so.” 

As soon as they reached the grand doors of the banquet hall, Yeji offered her arm to Heejin, who took it with a smile. The younger detective led the way through the giant ballroom as Haseul and the rest of the station were already sitting in a round table at the front. Hyunjin looked ahead to see a grand stage decorated with bouquets with a microphone mounted on a podium in the middle. She spotted Jiwoo talking with someone towards the back corners of the stages and she waved, to which Jiwoo smiled before turning back to the conversation. It was a pretty lively place, surprising as there’d been a gas leak threat just hours beforehand. They had been seated at a table with the station members who had been able to make it, a table relatively close to the stage.

The host continued making announcements regarding the ceremony. He started off by introducing the company, their accomplishments, and then moved onto the CEO, explaining to the audience how amazing she is while giving a small background information to how the company came about. Hyunjin grabbed some champagne that the waiters offered, curious to try them since she’s always wanted some alcohol. Heejin eyed her partner secretly as she took a sip, only to immediately recoil from the gross taste. The older girl couldn’t hold in her laughter and tried to giggle as quietly as she could. Hyunjin, however, heard her and glared at Heejin before rolling her eyes. Aside from this, Yeji downed her champagne glass in one go. 

“You’ve tried this crap before??” Hyunjin whispered at her friend, whom simply shrugged. 

“It wasn’t bad for me the first time. Would you like some, Heejin-sshi?”

“Ah, no thank you, but I appreciate the offer.” She smirked at Yeji, who returned the same gesture back. 

“Don’t mention it, anything for a pretty girl.”

_ Oh my god… _

Hyunjin couldn’t believe this was happening _ again _. The audacity these two idiots had to flirt during a formal event. She tried to tune them out as much as she could, utterly surprised her other friends didn’t even notice them flirting with each other. Haseul, Sooyoung and Vivi were socializing while Chaewon and Yeojin were dining on their food. Hyunjin tried her best to focus on the host speaking since the mic was loud but she sat pretty close to Yeji and Heejin as they continued exchanging cheesy pick up lines with each other.

“When I first saw you, I looked for a signature because every masterpiece usually has one.” 

“I’m sure that would make two us, Yeji-sshi.” Heejin smirked while placing her chin on her palm as Yeji chuckled.

“You sure know how to flatter people, no wonder you’re admired so much.”

Heejin giggled along with the firefighter’s flirts, even going as far as to leaning her head on Yeji’s shoulders because she was so shy from all the compliments. Hyunjin wanted to bury herself and hide away from this horrid conversation. She wanted to step in and stop them from constantly flirting with each other, but knew that would most likely anger Yeji. So, to keep her promise, Hyunjin just dealt with it until the host finally announced the entrance of the CEO, which immediately earned everyone’s applaud. Conversation immediately hushed when the mic was tapped however, by a very pretty young woman with a black bob cut.


	17. Welcome Back

"Apologies for the delay. I would like to humbly welcome each and every one of you for this grand banquet. This wouldn't have been possible without your support, so we are forever grateful to be given this opportunity to present to you how much we have flourished over the years. But before we get on with the evening, I must reveal something first." Juwon leaned forward, a corner of her lips lifted smugly before she continued. 

“After years of development, failed trial runs and experimentation, this is a special exhibition of our latest product that will change the world. You all, who welcomed me back so warmly, will be the first to see our latest, game-changing, and I dare say, _ LIFE _ changing piece of technology. Just then, a large board slowly came down from above, just behind Juwon as some people set up machines here and there. “Introducing the Argus Lethe! Or simply known as Lethe. It is a revolutionary face recognition and identification software that assures no lost person will ever be forgotten again.”

Before they knew it, a presentation was now being projected after one of her workers pressed the ON button. However, it wasn’t the usual presentation with slides they were viewing, rather it was from the security camera hanging in the top corner of the ballroom. Everyone’s eyes immediately directed towards it before looking back at Juwon, who began explaining her invention. 

“Right now, that security camera has the Lethe software installed that I happened to program with the help of my colleagues. To shortly summarize this, the basic function of this software is its unique ability to recognize anyone’s faces. The system can be operated on any devices, so yes, that includes mobile phones. In fact, I will use mine to connect with the software and demonstrate how remarkable this technology is, with the help of my right hand woman, who I couldn’t have done this all without her generous help.”

A wave of shock and awe rolled over the room, even Jiwoo seemed surprised. Heejin’s jaw nearly dropped to the floor as a familiar face walked onto the stage as the spotlight followed her. Juwon passed the microphone and her mobile device off to them after making her finishing comments. The person turned out to Mia’s “girlfriend,” Park Jiwon. The duo detectives both shared a look, wondering when she was even affiliated with Juwon in the first place. Heejin made a mental reminder to herself to call Mia about this later, to see if she had anything to say about this. They cheered loudly for her, which made Jiwon look over to then amusedly before speaking into the microphone. 

“Good evening, everyone. My name is Park Jiwon and I’m here to present Lethe: the best of its kind in the entire world. But in order to demonstrate how effective Lethe is, We have sent an Argos staff member into the audience in disguise as an attending guest and will now use the venue cameras with it installed into the network.” 

Jiwon nodded to the broadcaster, who responded with a thumbs up before typing on his computer. Now, the projection showed the live security camera feed of four different angles of the main room of the banquet, where everyone was seated. Afterwards, she wired up the software on Juwon's phone, connecting with the security camera and then taking a few steps back from the screen so everyone can see the presentation. Jiwon pressed some buttons here and there on the phone before setting it down and gazing at the screen as well. Almost instantly, the security camera zoomed in on someone and identified them. A silver icon appeared in the corner of the screen, pulsing and within seconds, the screen zoomed in on one particular angle of the banquet room. Then, it immediately identified a particular face. The screen parted into two, one closely analyzed the particular person while the other side showed _ everything_. 

Their name, birthdate and other facts such as their education and criminal record, which was clean. Gasps sounded everywhere, quickly followed by applause and murmuring. It was one of Juwon’s female employees who flashed a bright smile and a peace sign at the camera after being recognized, earning laughters throughout the room. The CEO walked back to the center while sharing the amusement with everyone else and Jiwon continued explaining Lethe. 

“As you can see, this software can immediately perceive your facial features within milliseconds. My main goal for this invention is mainly to help out the police force and to aide them in finding lost loved ones, therefore, it is not entirely available for everyone. My apologies for those who anticipated on using this invention, but please be understanding of its use. Thank you, that’ll be all.”

That being said, Juwon and Jiwon bowed down to the audience after finishing the presentation, to which everyone stood up from their seats to applaud. Despite the enthusiasm, it wasn't entirely shared. Heejin and Hyunjin felt a pang in their hearts. Maybe they could use this software to find Hyejoo.

* * *

It had been such a long time since Juwon stood in front of a crowd and made a speech, so the fact that she was able to pull this off was quite admirable. Music began playing and everyone roamed around to do their own thing. Haseul, Vivi and Sooyoung were on the lookout for the gas leak, Chaewon and Yeojin were sort of doing their job (though really they were on the hunt for the exotic food) and Heejin, Hyunjin and Yeji walked together in the crowd. Jiwon excused herself from the stage and wants a farewell to her boss, too which Juwon gave her a big hug before she left. 

Jiwoo, on the other hand, was patiently waiting just outside the crowd of reporters as they interviewed Juwon. It’d been so long since the redhead had talked to her friend, their last time exchanging words were when they’d just graduated high school. Now that she had the opportunity again, Jiwoo couldn’t let it go to waste, not after years with no ways to contact because of their conflicting schedules and especially since Juwon was too busy with her company. Though Jiwoo couldn’t blame her, she, too, had a lot of work in the police force, constantly fighting crime, arresting evil-doers, and more. After a while, the reporters finally finished their unnecessarily long interview with Juwon and now it was just the woman standing there, looking a little lost since she didn’t know what else to do. That is, until she immediately laid eyes on Jiwoo, the warm feeling inside her still prominent after all these years.

“Jiwoo!” Juwon called out, feeling ecstatic with both the successful presentation of Lethe and seeing the person whom dearly missed. 

“Juwon unnie."

“Hey.” Juwon shyly, yet nervously did a small wave, which earned a chuckle from the younger girl.

“Hi.”

“I know this ceremony isn’t much, but I hope you’re having fun.”

“I am! Definitely. I just……I just missed you.”

“I-I missed you, too….”

“Hehe, glad the feeling is mutual. You know, after so long, it still seems like we’re close like the last time we spoke.”

“Hm, now that you mentioned it.” Juwon softly laughed before gazing into Jiwoo’s eyes again. “So how have you been? How’s your music been? I…I searched online a few times when I was overseas but couldn’t find anything under your name.” She was hesitant about asking this, but it seemed her question was answered when Jiwoo's expression suddenly changed to sadness. 

“O-oh…I dropped that dream when you left…er, uh, I mean around that time. I’m a police officer now." She explained quietly, her face an unreadable expression

“Wait, what?" The older girl in utter shock as Jiwoo didn’t say anything more. Juwon spoke again. “Wooming…you’ve had that dream since you could walk. So…why…?”

"Let's justーdrop it, please?" 

"Ok, alright. But if you ever need to talk, just know I'm here for you." She placed her hand comfortingly on Jiwoo's arm, who held onto it gently. “Also, um…there’s something I’ve been wanting to say for a while.”

“Oh, do tell!” She responded enthusiastically, which made the older woman’s heart flutter a little. Jiwoo hasn’t changed that much and was still the same joyful girl she knew years ago, unknowingly lighting up the mood within seconds. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh, for what?”

“For not trying to make time…if I had at least did, y-you wouldn’t have been hur—”

“Juwon-ah, I understand. Don’t worry about it. The past is the past, I’m more than happy that we’re still friends. Still in each other’s lives. And…even if my reaction then wasn’t as pleasant, I should be sorry, too. I should’ve recognized your dreams first and be happy for you.” She unconsciously held Juwon’s hand. 

“Jiwoo…it’s great you still care about me. Even after our disagreements.”

“Don’t mention it. The least I can do now is be the bigger person and support you when I can.”

“Thank you. For everything, really. I’m satisfied enough to be talking to you.”

“I feel the same with you….” Jiwoo made a shy chuckled and rubbed her neck. 

“So…wanna get some food?”

“_ Please _. I’ve been starving all night.” They both shared laughters before intertwining their arms. 

“Aw, you didn’t get the food the waiters were serving?”

“No, I thought I had to pay or walk up to them to order something. Speaking of which, this place doesn’t seem to have a menu available.”

“Jiwoo, the ceremony serves buffet. This isn’t a restaurant.” Juwon mused while giggling at Jiwoo’s antics.

“Huh?? So that means I could’ve gotten food for free this whole time??”

“I’m afraid so.” 

“Geez…everything is so confusing these days.”

“Seems like it’s us against the world, huh?”

“Haha, I guess it is.”

The two of them approached the buffet area where all the delicious and exotic food was being made by professional chefs from all over the country. Therefore, many of the main dishes were exclusively from England, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam, and much more. Jiwoo was beyond amazed by this and gathered all the cuisines that amazed her. Juwon was amused every time her shorter friend gasped when she laid her eyes on something delicious looking, excited to see her reaction when she actually tries the food. The CEO personally requested all of these in hopes it would enlighten the attendees of her ceremony, therefore, it was relieving that everyone seemed to be enjoying the authentic dishes. 

Juwon and Jiwoo sat at an arranged table for two, personally by the CEO herself. They spoke about their fun memories together, overseas and how their careers have been going lately. Juwon had shared how much stressed she had to deal with while setting up her own company. Jiwoo could only imagine how being a businesswoman was harsh because it was especially hard with society’s norms and odd values. 

“But yeah, I eventually got through it, made lots of deals, advertisements and here I am.”

“Wow~ that’s so impressive! You’re amazing.” Juwon giggled while blushing, waving off Jiwoo’s compliment yet thanking her at the same time.

“Alright, alright, now onto to you, detective. What’s the craziest case you’ve ever done in your life?” 

“Hmm……oh! There was one time where my friends and I were out in Daegu for a mission before.”

“Daegu?? ‘Most dangerous area in South Korea’ Daegu?!”

“Yep! That’s the one.”

“Oh my god, thank god you’re alright. What happened?”

“It’s kind of a hazy memory but I was with Hyunjin, Heejin and Yuqi, we were finding this satellite for some important data, got chased by this monster, I got lost in the woods and somehow ended up all the way in Suseong-gu, but then I decided to buy some hamburgers at the local BurgerKing, ran back, met up with my friends on the roof of a tall building, encountered the monster again, escaped by jumping off the building, and landed on a gigantic pile of hay! The end!” Jiwoo merely smiled at the amusing memory, it was probably the most terrifying and fun mission she’d ever had. 

The CEO was silent, staring with wide eyes in utter disbelief as what she just heard. Juwon had no idea how to process this at all. “That’s…insane.”

“Hehe, I know! But that was a while ago, I haven’t been on another mission since.”

“I—can’t even imagine how that must’ve been. Your friends are ok?”

“Eh, well, Yuqi needed some therapy and I think that lasted for about a week. She’s much better now! Don’t worry.”

“Wow, hopefully something like that won’t happen again. I guess Daegu could be traumatic but does she have a weak heart? I feel awful for her.”

“Oh yeah, Yuqi’s a scaredy-cat in general. You should’ve seen that time when she got scared of playing baseball. Heejin and I had to carry her all the way to the infirmary so they could revive her.” Juwon burst into laughter upon hearing that.

“Well it’s good to know you take care of your friends. You’re always so kind and generous.”

“T-thanks.” Jiwoo shyly looked towards another direction and brushed her hair behind her ear.

“Anyways, if you’re not busy, would you like to hang out sometime? I know I just got back so I might have a lot of work, but I could make some arrangements here and there.”

“Sure! I’ll see if I’m free, too. I’d love to hang out with you.”

“That’s nice to hear.” Juwon mused before placing her hand on Jiwoo’s, who immediately returned the contact. 

As the party went on, both women continued socializing while the rest of Haseul’s station continued roaming around and doing whatever. On one instance, Hyunjin nearly jumped Yeji for trying to put black pepper in her croissant but decided against it because of the commotion it’d cause. Heejin merely stood aside while the friends bickered, feeling awkward and conflicted with what she should do. Haseul was still on the lookout for any suspicious looking people. She’d theorized that it might be Limbo behind it, but wanted to make sure just incase. Luckily, Sooyoung and Vivi agreed to help her. This continued for about half an hour more, the music constantly changing the mood and everyone talking amongst themselves. Jiwoo and Juwon were still socializing about their lives, thus, they weren’t expecting a visitor coming towards them. 

The woman’s hair was beautifully blonde, tied in a high ponytail, eyes were golden brown, her makeup was godly and the red lips dimly sparkled in the light. But that wasn’t all because her red suit was attracting, a lot people’s attentions were on her. They couldn’t help but notice the color and aura she exhibited before them. It was eye-catching and somewhat hard to ignore, which is why Jiwoo and Juwon looked in her direction, surprised when they saw who it was.

“J-Jungeun??”

“Hey Jiwoo. Juwon.”

“Jungeun-ah! Oh my gosh, it’s been so long!” Before the redhead could say anything, Juwon already got up from her seat, away from their table to give the blonde a crushing bear hug. 

“Oof—wow! I forgot how much you love hugs.” Jungeun groaned when her back cracked a little before letting out a deep breath when the CEO finally let her go. 

“I can’t believe you’re actually here! It’s nice to see you again.”

“It’s pleasant to see you, too. I figured since you’re already back, Jiwoo would be here, too.” Jungeun glanced over at Jiwoo, who still had her eyes wide in surprise.

Just then, Juwon’s phone makes a small ringtone, a text message from one of her coworkers notifying her that something urgent came up. “Ugh…hey, sorry guys, but I have to go now. Something just happened and they need me. I’ll be right back!”

With that being said, Jungeun waved off the apology and told Juwon it was fine as the CEO quickly ran to another direction, leaving just two of them. The blonde took a seat where Juwon previously sat, putting her elbow on the table then her chin in her palm. She smirked at Jiwoo’s still surprised expression, wondering what she was thinking about right now. Sure, her appearance tonight was rather unexpected, but Jiwoo had no other reasons to still be shocked at it. Jungeun snapped her fingers in front of the younger’s face, in hopes it would get her attention. Seeing this, Jiwoo quickly shook her head. 

“Earth to Kim Jiwoo?” Jungeun smirked even more when the younger girl huffed. 

“You said you were busy tonight.”

“Surprise~” The blonde sarcastically waved her hands in a gesture before placing her elbow back on the table again. “Come on, Woo. You know I’m always full of surprises.”

“But at least inform me first hand! You missed the speech and the exotic food.”

“Then that would take the fun away. Besides, I don’t eat rare food and there’s no need to stay for a speech when we’re going to have fun for the whole event anyways.” Jiwoo defeatedly sighed at this, knowing there’s no point in arguing with Jungeun about it. 

“Fine. Since you always want to party anyways.”

“See? You’re getting me!” 

After some time, both Jiwoo and Jungeun eventually agreed to grab more food at the buffet, to which the younger girl kept suggesting her to try the rare cuisines. To stop Jiwoo from constantly persuading her to do so, Jungeun reluctantly grabbed a dish that was apparently from Vietnam, cơm tấm. And to her surprise, the food was beyond amazing, probably one of the best, if not the best dish she’s ever tried. Jungeun’s astonishment made Jiwoo giggle as she threw her head back (“I told you so.”). Meanwhile, the captains roamed around the buffet area, occasionally getting food while constantly on the lookout for suspicious activity. 

Sooyoung and Vivi were slightly more lenient than Haseul since they figured Limbo wouldn't be here if they'd seen the news, but the main captain wanted to be sure, so they just went along with it. Haseul was standing next Sooyoung as they were near the dessert area when she felt tapping on her shoulder, immediately turning towards the older girl. 

“What is it, Sooyoung?”

“Huh?” The older woman arched an eyebrow at her.

“Didn’t you just tap me on the shoulder?”

“Uuuhh, no?”

“Then who…?” Haseul glanced back and forth at her surroundings, not finding anyone that seemed suspicious. The captain then sighed and massaged her temple. “Maybe I’m stressing out too much.”

“Aw, Seul. You should rest at our table then. Vivi and I got this.”

“But we should all help. I’ll pull through.”

“Hey, look. I know this is a big deal but we can handle this. You deserve a break more than anything. You’ve done enough, Haseul.” Sooyoung placed her hand on the captain’s shoulder, who eventually sighed and hesitantly agreed. 

“Fine. Please call or text if you need any help, though.”

“Speaking of which, why don’t you call Saerom? I’m sure she’s not busy right now.” The older girl smirked when she saw Haseul blushing as red as a tomato. 

“W-what?? Why would I—”

“Off you go, Jo Haseul~” Sooyoung gently shoved her captain to their table and made her take a seat before briskly walking away to give her some privacy. 

Meanwhile, a certain trio were roaming around the ballroom, following Haseul's instructions like usual. They stopped at the buffet again, they were gazing at chefs making food, almost as if they were performing. Hyunjin’s mouth was agape when she saw how the flipped the ingredients from one hot pan to another. Like always, the two dorks beside were _ still _ flirting with each other and at this point, Hyunjin merely got used to it because there was nothing else she could do about Yeji’s flirtatious nature. The firefighter’s arm intertwined with Heejin, who giggled shyly every time Yeji says a pickup line to her. While the trio continued gazing at the chef expertly cooking, something poked suddenly Heejin’s shoulder, making her look away to check behind. The hair in the back of her neck rose when she saw no one, eyes slightly widened in fear. Yeji noticed Heejin's movements before inquiring, which also caught Hyunjin's attention. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I think someone tapped on my shoulder.”

“Really? I don’t see anyone.” The firefighter tried finding someone who would’ve done it, but saw no one. 

“Weird…guess I’m imagining things.”

“Aw, don’t say that. People would be dumb to lay their hands on you.” Yeji smirked as Heejin giggled, placing a hand over her mouth and lightly hitting the older’s arm. 

"And why do you say that?" The detective teasingly questioned with a smirk. 

"Because then I won't hesitate to kick their ass." Heejin nearly swooned right then and there.

However, Hyunjin seemed to be on high alert now, making sure to be on the lookout incase someone actually did approach Heejin and Yeji. And for the first time since the party, she wasn't worried about the two flirting anymore. Hyunjin turned away to watch the chef again, making sure to catch whoever tried tap on either of their shoulders again. Just then, Jungeun walked past them while on her phone, her other hand in the pocket of her pants. The blonde had excused herself from the table that she and Jiwoo were sitting to head to the bathroom. She briefly looked up from the mobile device and stole a quick, meaningless glance at the detectives without much thought. That is until it registered in her brain and she stopped in her tracks, holding her phone down. Jungeun merely stood there staring, having heard lots about those two and had always wanted to personally meet them. And that was she intended to do. 

Right when she took a few steps forward, a hand was placed on her shoulder. Jungeun's attention averted away from the girls in front of her to look behind, her eyes meeting Juwon, who was smiling giddily. The blonde, however, wasn't sharing the same enthusiasm. 

"Hey, Jungeun! Are you gonna get food from the buffet? I'll come with you."

"Cha Juwon. Don't act like we're best friends now."

"What are you talking about?" The CEO instantly furrowed her eyebrows at the sudden hostility. 

"Did you forget that time? When you decided to leave Jiwoo behind all for your dreams to be a businesswoman?"

"J-Jungeun…she's already clarified that everything was fineー"

"I guess I should tell you about her situation before, after, and around the time you left." Jungeun's cold, icy glare sent chills down her spine. Juwon remembered how she had stared at her with those eyes when she had departed to go overseas.

* * *

_ Juwon first met Jiwoo and Jungeun in their freshman year of high school. It was like love at first sight when the older girl laid her eyes upon a short girl with cute bangs carrying around a large guitar case around campus. It took Juwon a while to gather some courage and finally speak to Jiwoo. Since then, they had become extremely close. Jungeun was very much welcoming of Jiwon, thus, they became fast friends as well. Nearly daily, all three of them would hang out after school, on weekends, breaks, etc. Basically whenever they were all free of their schedules at the same time of day. After months into their flourishing friendship, Juwon finally asked Jiwoo out on a date, to which the girl briefly mistook it for another hangout, until the older had to clarify. Then the next day, they confirmed their relationship, the first person to hear it was Jungeun, of course. _

_ The brunette was happy for them and supported their relationship. She didn't realize the odd feeling about it then, merely shrugging it away and made stress to excuse it. But every time she saw her two close friends acting all lovey-dovey together, a sudden spark of jealousy erupted and soon, Jungeun put some distance between them. She felt horrible about it, especially since they were both dear to her. But it was the only way for her to calm down and rethink her feelings, whether or not she had a crush on Jiwoo. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, Jungeun couldn't help but think about her childhood best friend everyday and eventually realized that she had always been in love with her. They did everything together, had contrasting personalities that would make them perfect couples, and above all, Jiwoo was just so nice and kind to her. _

_ But now that she had Juwon, the last thing Jungeun wanted to do was be selfish and unintentionally tear that peaceful relationship apart. So, like the best friend Jiwoo served, the brunette decided to keep quiet. Despite the amount of calls, texts and invites Jungeun received from the couple gave her, she chose to either decline respectfully or resort to ignoring them. This, unfortunately, kept on for two whole months, and the couple started to become frustrated with Jungeun for not telling them what was wrong. They had become very concerned with their close friends suddenly becoming distant, but there was little they could do since Jungeun would be brief with them every time. This continued on for the rest of their high school years, the brunette was still distant from them while the couple continued their happy relationship. She was surprised how they stayed friends, but she had to accept since Jiwoo and Juwon kept pestering her to hang out with them, which of course, always made her an unfortunate third-wheel. _

_ By the time their graduation ended, Jiwoo was excited to spend the rest of their summer before they were hit with adult life until she remembered what had been hanging like dark shadow over her and Juwon’s head for their entire relationship. Juwon would be moving to the states soon to pursue her dreams there, as she’d always spoken of. She would come back when she was successful, no matter how many years that took. _

_ Thinking about how she would be thousands of miles away from Jiwoo without any guarantee of seeing her in a short amount of time nearly made Juwon change her mind about everything, but being a businesswoman and CEO was her dream. Is her dream. Jungeun, on the other hand, had mixed feelings. She, too, was upset about Juwon leaving for the states, but even then, she stayed by Jiwoo's side no matter what, letting the younger girl guiltily vent about her emotions, who had broken down into more tears afterwards, calling herself selfish for wanting to ask Juwon to stay. Jungeun assured her she wasn’t and stayed with her throughout her bouts of tears, as painful as it was. _

_ With reluctance, Juwon invited her two friends, so they could say their last goodbye to each other. Jungeun decided to drive herself and Jiwoo there, which was an awkward hour of silence with merely the radio playing random songs. When they finally got there and arrived inside, the younger girl was desperate to find Juwon. After half an hour of searching for the correct gate, the tall woman stood there, waiting and looking around with her suitcases by her side. Jiwoo immediately ran up to her and gave a bone crushing hug. Jungeun stood at a distance, watching them intently. _

_ "Jiwoo! You made it…." Juwon was relieved to see her, returning the passionate embrace just as much. _

_ "Juwonnie…must you go?" She asked, half teasingly. _

_ "Jiwoo…I'm sorry. Please understand this.. this has always been my dreams." _

_ "I-I want toー but it's so hard." She stuttered through tears, which made Juwon become emotional as well. _

_ "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…." They stayed like this for another hour until an announcement on the radio suddenly interrupted them. _

  
  


** _Flight from Seoul to New York Departing in 10 minutes. All passengers please make your way into the check in gate._ **

  
  
  


_ Juwon hadn’t even realized she was crying. But soon enough, tears began rolling down from her eyes when the disclosure tore through her heart. She had prepared her whole life to leave Korea, so why when it finally happened, it hurt so much? Somehow, the girl crying against her chest seemed to be crying as hard as she was hurting. She wrapped her arms tighter around Jiwoo, resting her face against her head. Jiwoo continued embracing Juwon because it would be the last time. She raised her head to rest in the crook of her very recent ex-girlfriend’s neck instead. They had agreed to break it off when they reached Juwon’s gate at the airport, which was an hour ago and they hadn’t moved from this position since. _

_ With that being said, their last moment together was decreasing by seconds. Jiwoo’s hug fell slack and Juwon pulled away, turning quickly so Jiwoo wouldn’t see her tears. She saw Jungeun standing off the side, acting uninterested in her phone. She looked up and met Juwon’s eyes with an icy stare. The older girl blinked before looking away, tears rolling down. _

_ “G-Goodbye, Jiwoo.” Juwon forced out, choking back her tears while hesitantly making a distance to pack her bags and rolling her suitcases. She began walking away, but didn't get far. _

_ “Wait!” Jiwoo clasped Juwon’s wrist before pulling the other girl towards her. Juwon turned to face in surprise her mouth slightly open in shock. Jiwoo kissed her one last time, so briefly that Juwon almost couldn’t gather herself in time to kiss back, but she did. The younger reluctantly pulled and stepped back, already starting to cry again. _

_ “Goodbye….” _

_ “B-bye….” _

_ Juwon disappeared behind the gate and out of Jiwoo's life. The younger began sobbing so hard that her body shook as she dropped to the ground. Strong arms immediately wrapped around her and she was secured into Jungeun’s embrace immediately. “I got you.” The brunette softly whispered in hopes to comfort her, pressing a light kiss to the side of Jiwoo’s head. _

* * *

Jungeun had walked away after explaining, leaving Juwon feeling shocked and empty inside. She had no reason to talk to Juwon from that point on and certainly no more plain excuses to be nice to her Jiwoo’s presence had prevented her from saying these things sooner. It was now done and over with, which brought Jungeun the relief she’d been waiting for since Juwon had left to the states.

As the banquet went on, footsteps tiptoed through doors leading elsewhere, making their way to an isolated hallway. Four of them, dressed in suits, were walking away from the crowd of people minding their own business and talking amongst themselves, sometimes trading glances as if communicating through their eyes. The only difficulties were acting along with the crowd and not be different from everyone else. They were cautious when they entered the hallways because only staff members were allowed here. After stopping at the end of the hall, they began patiently waiting for something, constantly checking their watches from time to time. It seem they’d been waiting long since the beginning of the ceremony judging by their bored expressions and subtle leaning on the wall. One of them broke the silence.

“If she’s going to take so long then I might as well FaceTime Meonji.” She tugged at the slack gas mask hanging ready around her neck. 

“Unless you wanna get in trouble, Sojung, you better not. But trust me, if this situation wasn’t serious, then I’d facetime my baby, too.” Another woman warned her. 

“Yah, Eunbi, Sojung, now’s not the time to worry about that stuff. We need to focus on how we’re going to pull this off without getting caught.”

“Geez, get over yourself, Yerin. Just because you were picked for this mission doesn’t mean you get to boss us around.” Eunbi bit back, which only made the older angry.

“At least I have my head out of the gutter! Just stay quiet like Umji and shut your trap.” Yerin huffed before slipping her hand into her pocket, just realizing the radio had been on the whole time. Static sounded a husky, prominent voice sounding from the other side that made them stand up straight. It was one that sent shivers down anyone’s spine, but they tried their best to stay as calm and natural as possible. 

_ “This will be the last time I hear about your dogs, Hwang, Kim.” _

“Apologies, Capo.” 

Eunbi smoothly apologized while Sojung practically stuttered after her, cursing at herself sounding so intimidated. But she couldn’t help it, not when she was speaking to one of the highest authorities in Limbo. They began discussing their next plans to their boss on the other side, reminding themselves to recap everything in order to get this task done successfully. And, as instructed, they didn’t forget to leave some small attachments when they passed by the detectives during the ceremony. Their patience were dimming, but luckily, the clock finally signalled to them that it was finally time. 

  
  
  


** _11:00PM_ **

  
  
  


_ “Are you there yet?” _

“Not yet, miss. We’re on our way right now.”

_ “Good. This has already been reviewed, so you know where to go.” _

“Yes, ma’am, we won’t fail.”

_ “Yeah…you won’t.” _

With that, the mysterious caller hung up, leaving a brief suspenseful silence. The person nervously put their phone in their pockets before quickly ushering the others to get moving. If there was even a slight mistake in this task alone, the four of them would not see the light of day tomorrow. As established, they split into two groups, both going opposite directions from each other, so they could arrive at separate locations. Within only minutes, the two of them finally reached it; the electricity room. In the first room, they saw a caution sign warning them that there will be high voltage ahead. Shrugging, they were about to enter until they saw a passcode was required. Glancing at each other, they both nodded before one of them fished a thin, tiny square device out of their pocket. Then, they pressed a button on the back, which enabled it to form into a rectangle before placing it on the screen. 

After a few seconds, the password was entered, allowing the two to enter. However, it seemed that they weren’t alone. Inside, there were three operators in the electric room and their job was to make sure everything was at a safe measure. So when the door suddenly opened, they all turned to look at the two strangers, dressed nicely, blocking their only exit. One of the electricians arched an eyebrow at who these people were, his gut feeling telling him that there was nothing friendly about them for some reason. Nonetheless, he questioned anyway. 

“Who are you two? Only employees are allowed back here.”

“Yeah, the party is down the other hall, people.” Another electrician stepped in and informed them, seeming rather too lazy to deal with any nonsense right now. Perhaps, that was a mistake. 

“Oh. We’re not here for a little tea party.” One of the two mysterious figures took a step forward, followed by the other. 

“And we certainly aren’t here to chit chat, either.”

Before the electricians can react, all three were tightly wrapped around in ropes, preventing them from moving even a few centimeters, thus, there was no way to escape. The two figures proceeded towards the machines that controlled the lighting of the ceremony and observed the numerous buttons here and there. When they finally found the switch, one of them took out their phone to wait for the signal. Within a minute or two, the phone vibrated with someone calling, to which they immediately answer. A voice sounded on the other end. 

_ “Have you reached the electric room yet?” _

The two other figures, wearing gas masks, were facing a stove the gas lines were behind as all the chefs were unconscious on the ground. It took them a while to locate this area because they ran into some waiters and waitresses on the way, having no other choice but to knock all of them out cold because there couldn’t be any witnesses. 

“Yes, we’re ready.”

_ “Alright. Get set in a few minutes.” _

“Copy that.”

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


During the ceremony, Sooyoung and Vivi were socializing, Chaewon and Yeojin by their sides, Hyunjin, Heejin and Yeji were still busy with the buffet, and Haseul was on the phone with Saerom. Jungeun had excused herself to the bathroom and Juwon began acting nervous in front of Jiwoo. Despite the younger girl questioning what was wrong, Juwon didn’t seem like she wanted to and instead explained that she wasn’t feeling well, to which Jiwoo reluctantly accepted, despite not being fully convinced. At the station’s table, Haseul was smiling like a dork while subtly flirting with the fellow captain on the other side. 

_ “So how’s your night been so far, Seul?” _

“Ugh, honestly it’s kinda boring. The CEO just made a presentation of her new invention, which was cool, but now there’s nothing else to be excited about.”

_ “That’s it?? I thought they’d at least made more products than that.” _

“Right? Guess I was expecting too much.”

_ “That reminds me of our high school days. I remember when we partnered up for this one project and I accidentally hit the—” _

“Don’t remind me~ it seriously was not worth the 2 week long detention after school….” Boy, was that a long story for them. Haseul merely sighed at the memory and shook her head before smiling when Saerom started giggling on the other side.

_ “It wasn’t THAT bad. Besides, those were honestly the best weeks of my life.” _

“And why is that?”

_ “Because I got to hang out with the most beautiful girl ever.” _

It took so much energy to go crazy and squeal right now. Haseul shyly covered her face with her hand while grinning widely at Saerom subtly flirting with her. “Anyways, I’m just sitting at my table now. My colleagues insisted that I take a small break for once while they do the work. Should I go back and help them?”

_ “Well~ I do agree you need a break sometimes. You’ve always worked hard for others so you deserve it.” _

“Please, you’re too nice….”

_ “I should be saying that, silly.” _

“Not after you just flirted with me.”

_ “Well, are you complaining?” _

“N-no, no no, of course not.” Haseul cursed at herself for stuttering, but continued talking to let the conversation going. 

On the other side of the room, Vivi and Sooyoung were socializing about random things that came up in the top of their heads. They first started from their high school days, traveling, dealing with children (Chaewon and Yeojin), jobs, etc. Sooyoung randomly brought up the time when she was walking to the convenience store, a burglar was robbing the store, but it’d somehow took her two minutes to finally realize what was going on. Vivi, on the other hand, chuckled and rolled her eyes at this. It was a good memory. 

“Ok, but how did you seriously not notice the guy? In a _ ski mask _?”

“Listen! I just woke up and Haseul made me walk all the way down two blocks just to buy food and drinks. You know how important sleep is.”

“At 4 in the afternoon?” Vivi mused while teasingly arching an eyebrow at the other woman.

“Look, either way, I still got the thief!”

“You literally chased him for 10 minutes and dropped all of our stuff on the street. That was a waste of 26 bucks.”

“Are you preferring food over catching a burglar??”

“Can you blame me though? We were starving all day and the dude stole a dollar. A dollar, Sooyoung.”

“Well—at least I got employee of the month.”

Vivi giggled and shook her head before taking a sip of wine from her glass. “Anywho, you think we can leave soon? I’m starting to doubt this gas leak rumor.”

“On another note, it’s still good to be wary about it. Who knows what will happen if we leave early.”

“My legs are starting to hurt from walking so much.”

“Ugh same, we’re growing old, huh?”

“Guess we are.” Vivi chuckled and set her drink down on the table and leaned on the edge. “I don’t think I’ve seen anything or anyone suspicious. You?”

“Me neither. Sort of a relief though, the more peaceful it is, the less trouble we’d have to deal with.”

“Hm, true.”

Just then, the two co-captains noticed at the corner of their eyes; a few guests proceeding towards the backdoors with signs that clearly states employees only. Their eyes followed the figures as they disappeared behind the exit and away from the party. Maybe they were just in a hurry and needed to leave soon, but their facial expressions said otherwise. Vivi and Sooyoung knew that there were possibilities of Limbo being present and responsible for the rumored gas leak, according to their captain's theory. And it seemed to be correct after all. Vivi counted four of them before looking towards Sooyoung, who was already looking back. 

“You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s go.”

The two co-captains reached the doors that the four figures had exited through within a minute and quickly opened them. They both furrowed their eyebrows when they stood in a large hall. The carpet was highly detailed with sophisticated patterns, various paintings and lamps decorated the walls, and small countertops with fancy, elegantly designed pottery were displayed on the side. That was when they turned around to look at the door behind them; “Employees Only.” Vivi cautiously advanced forward step by step, Sooyoung following closely behind. They made some turns here and there, hoping to find the one place where Limbo would go. And that being said, they both ended up in the kitchen and stood by the entrance. Sooyoung whispered a question to Vivi. 

“Should we go in? What if they’re hiding?”

“Then we’ll be ready.”

Without anymore hesitations, she proceeded to open the door, which surprised the younger woman because she thought this would’ve taken a more careful approach. But Sooyoung guessed getting straight to the point wouldn’t be so bad. If only she and Vivi noticed the two mysterious guests hiding right by the entrance, the light barely shining on them but their figures were still visible. Immediately upon seeing the officers, they both ambushed from behind, Sooyoung falling on her to the floor after being kicked in the back while Vivi crashed into a table. Turning around, the older woman saw the two guests who were hiding by the entrance, noticing both of them were female. She was unable to see their faces, however, due to the fact that they were wearing gas masks. That was when Vivi realized it; there was a gas leak and the rumor was true after all. But even worse, Limbo was clearly involved so whoever these women were, they might be apart of the mafia.

Sooyoung quickly got up from the ground before charging the one who kicked her. And eventually, there was a whole brawl in the kitchen. The younger co-captain was practically playing while throwing punches here and there as Vivi used numerous silverwares against her opponent, swinging forks and knives everywhere. She suddenly became distracted when Sooyoung ran past her to escape the other enemy chasing her, so Vivi didn’t see the shiny fork flying towards her at a dangerous high speed before it struck her right shoulder. She immediately recoiled in pain while clutching her arm as her opponent came at her with a knife. Out of reflex, Vivi instinctively got out her platinum pocket knife and blocked the attack that was narrowly inches from her neck. She then kicked the woman’s leg below, causing her to fall and the sharp weapon to fall out of her hand. 

The younger officer was still fending off the other woman, trading punches and kicks. This fight was getting them nowhere because the gas was still leaking. Vivi frantically looked around the kitchen to see where the source of it, until her eyes landed on the stove as a large flammable mist was being exposed into the air. It was overflowing _ fast _, but there was nothing Vivi could do since she didn’t have a gas mask, therefore, the officer would pass out before she could even reach the stove. And speaking of which, it was beginning to feel suffocating in the kitchen. She and Sooyoung had to leave now. With her quick thinking, Vivi quickly tossed a large pot over to her so she can use, but it ended up hitting the enemy’s back. Sooyoung hastily grabbed the pot before swinging it around while the woman was still distracted, striking her face and knocking her out cold. A brief moment of silence suspensefully took place in the kitchen, only Vivi and Sooyoung’s heavy breathing were audible. The younger officer finally spoke up when she saw the other’s injury. 

“Oh shit, are you ok? That looks nasty.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s not that bad.”

“I-I can help pull it out—”

“Not here, Soo. The gas is leaking and we need to alert everyone.”

“Crap, you’re right. Here, I got you.”

They quickly trotted out of the kitchen and Vivi reached for her phone to contact Jiwoo through call. It was frustrating at first because the girl couldn’t pick up for some reason, until the third attempt. Sighing in relief, Vivi summarized what had just happened and let the girl on the other end to tell everyone else. However, as she and Sooyoung reached the hallway, muffled screamings and yellings halted them. It was coming from the party. Seemed like the real fun had only just begun. 

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


** _20 minutes ago…_ **

  
  


Jiwoo was roaming around in the crowd of people minding their own business, searching for a certain businesswoman, but she was nowhere to be seen. Sighing, Jiwoo then opted to look for Jungeun, looking for the familiar blonde hair but she, too, was not in sight. Eventually, the young officer decided to go back to her table, seeing that her captain was already there. She took her seat across from Haseul before placing her chin in her palm. Jiwoo sighed once more, wondering where the two most important people in her life were and the areas they could possibly be. She theorized Juwon could be in the back or stuck in the middle of another boring interview. Jungeun might’ve wandered off somewhere, but she would always messaged Jiwoo where she was. 

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Haseul giggling about something while on the phone as a sudden spark of curiosity intrigued her. Jiwoo subtly leaned forward to hear what the captain was all smiley about, until she heard Saerom’s voice. Haseul looked up to see her station mate, Jiwoo, pleasantly surprised by this before giving her a knowing smirk. When it looked like she was about to speak up, Haseul quickly tried to stop Jiwoo from saying anything, but she was too late. 

“Hey Saerom-unnie~! When’s your next date with Seul-unnie?” The captain immediately turned red with a whole mix of embarrassment, anger and shyness.

_ JIWOO!! _

_ “W-what?” _

Saerom was taken aback by this sudden question since she had no idea how to answer it. And perhaps feeling a bit exposed. Haseul, on the other hand, had to hold herself back from strangling Jiwoo from across the table. The captain quickly ushered an excuse, profusely apologizing for what just happened. And without giving Saerom any time to answer back, Haseul hastily hung up the call before putting her face into her palms, sighing loudly.

“Aw, don’t fret it, unnie. She totally likes you back!” The captain huffed, looking up as she narrowed her eyes at her.

“Jiwoo! That’s not the point. What was that for?”

“Because it’s the point! Don’t worry, you can trust me!” 

Jiwoo smiled with confidence and Haseul rolled her eyes before shaking her head. The captain got out her phone to message Saerom in order to properly explain herself. Just then, the younger officer felt something buzzing in her pocket before taking out her own mobile device, only to be surprised to see it was Vivi. She quickly answered the call. 

“Hey, Vivi! What’s up—”

_ “JIWOO! Thank god, took you long enough!” _

She instinctively put some distance between her phone and ear. “Vivi?? Are you alright?” This received Haseul’s attention. 

_ “The rumor about the gas leak is true! Soo and I just ran into some Limbo members, so you need to tell Haseul NOW!” _

The younger girl returned her captain’s worried gaze and was about to inform her when sudden crashing had everyone screaming and running away. Windows were suddenly being broken and doors busted down, revealing people dressed in suits. However, they weren’t attacking the people and were moving towards the security camera on the corner of the ceiling. Before Haseul realized it, Limbo was breaking into the ceremony to steal Lethe. Meanwhile, Hyunjin, Heejin and Yeji were at the buffet before all of this chaos, and they just so happened to be standing near one of the doors that were busted down so suddenly. Being startled, Hyunjin instinctively threw her plate full of desserts at the Limbo member, knocking them unconscious. 

Additionally, not only were people tripping over one another to rush to the exit, seemingly normal guests were attacking each other with whatever was at hand: chairs, glasses and even the floral centerpieces on the tables. Hyunjin immediately stepped protectively in front of Yeji and Heejin, ignoring the fact that if she took another hit right now she’d probably end up back in the hospital. She turned sharply, a bottle of champagne just barely missing her head. Afterwards, the trio instinctively formed a triangle with their backs to each other, arms up and ready to defend from whatever attacks may come their way. 

“What the hell’s going on??” Hyunjin shouted, not paying attention to her front.

“Kim! Watch out!!” Heejin noticed someone charging at her partner and quickly alerted her as Yeij protectively stood in front of her. 

“Whoa!” Hyunjin narrowly dodged a punch by ducking downwards before elbowing the person in the stomach. It turned out to be some guy and he landed with a thud, groaning in pain on the ground. Soon enough, the younger detective finally realized the situation. “Holy shit! Jeon, it’s Limbo!!”

“Aw crap!” She muttered under breath, but the older girl next to her still heard.

“Who?” Yeji, having no idea what was happening right now, arched an eyebrow and looked at Heejin for an answer.

“It’s a dangerous mafia. They’ve been responsible for the latest crimes that Kim and I have been investigating.”

“Damn, mafia, huh?” The firefighter never would’ve thought she’d be involved with this type of case. “Hold on…then that means—”

Sudden war cry from behind quickly alerted Yeji as another Limbo member attempted to ambush Heejin. The detective was able to hold the person back from inflicting damage on her by blocking the knife they had in their hand. Yeji immediately ran up to assist and harshly kicked their side, knocking them out cold to the ground. Back at their table, Haseul was caught off guard by the eruption of panic and violence. Sooyoung was barely able to fend off a stranger from the next table, who she’d thought was harmless, from hitting Haseul over the head with a chair. 

“What the—Rom, I gotta go, call you later!” Haseul finished up quickly before shoving her phone in her pocket and taking out a taser instead. Sooyoung wrenched the chair from the strangers’ hands before Haseul drove her taser into their stomach, which made them writhe before collapsing. 

“Call backup. ASAP.” 

Haseul ordered, plunging the taser into another patron who had snuck up behind Sooyoung and was about to deliver a blow to her head. The older officer complied before frantically fishing out her phone in her pocket to dial some numbers. Soon, the officers became busy fending off some of the Limbo members. Chaewon and Yeojin were using tasers to help because it was much more efficient. The captain was injured here and there, but she was able to fend off most of them at once, with the help of Jiwoo, of course. Being the black belt taekwondo fighter she is, the girl beat numerous Limbo members within a heartbeat. That was when Haseul realized she was fuming, something she rarely ever saw for such an enthusiastic and smiley girl. As Jiwoo continued beating them all up, Haseul quickly shook her head to refocus what she wanted to say. 

“They’re going for Lethe! After them!!”

Upon hearing this, Hyunjin and Heejin rushed to assist their captain, only for Yeji to stop them. “Hey, let us go! We need to help—!”

“The gas leak!” That immediately made them quiet. “And plus, you guys aren’t in the condition to fight yet.”

“Shit…! Then we have to evacuate everyone out of here!”

“Ok, I’ll call my boss from my fire station and tell her to get here asap.”

“I’ll contact the medic then.” Heejin offered and was about to ask for her partner’s phone, only for Hyunjin to immediately take her place.

“No, let me do it. Can you still fight, Jeon?”

“Y-yeah, but—”

“Good! Go help Haseul! I’ll hold everything from here.” She quickly ran off without giving Heejin any other choices. 

“Incase anything happens, I’ll be here to help you.” Yeji’s voice interrupted Heejin’s thoughts.

“Oh, alright. Thanks, Yeji.”

With that being said, the younger girl dashed forward to the Limbo members climbing up the walls using a ladder as they reached to grab the surveillance camera. As the large crowd of partygoers began to dissipate, it was now easier to fight the rude guests who decided to crash the ceremony on an anticipated peaceful night. Heejin quickly dashed towards one of the ladders that they were climbing on before using her utmost strength to lip it over, causing all of the mafia underlings to fall from the height and onto the ground. They were temporarily knocked out cold, some quickly getting back up to get revenge on the young detective for ruining their plan. That soon turned out to be a mistake since they were instantly met punches and kicks to the face as Heejin swiftly dodged the oncoming attacks. On the other hand, Yeji hastily stepped in to assist, talking on the phone while kicking anyone coming in her way. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


In a now quiet office room, five women were moping around and doing whatever eases their boredom after a whole day of nothing fun happening. One of them, in light brown hair and bangs, was laying on top of her table while balancing a wooden pencil on her nose. After the fourth attempt of trying, she gave with an exasperated sigh, tossing the writing utensil elsewhere in the room. At the desk beside her, a brunette has been scrolling through her phone for awhile now. Another girl with blonde hair, dark grey tank tops and firefighter pants was flipping through newspapers to find something interesting. Next, the one in short hair was furiously typing on her computer and moving her mouse around. It seemed pretty obvious she was playing some PC game. 

Gazing around to all her other friends, the one laying on her desk noticed that only one was on the computer while the rest were on the verge of falling asleep. In fact, the youngest one was already snoring, resting her head in her arms. Seeing this, the woman lying on her desk grabbed a book from her cupboard before aiming it at the girl, in hopes to teasing her awake. The book then goes flying into the air and lands on the raven’s head, causing her to groan with annoyance. 

“Yiyeon-unnie! What the hell??”

“That never fails to work on you, Seungeun-ah.” 

She smirked at the pouting girl sitting across from her. Another girl sitting by her desk momentarily set her phone down to see what happened before shrugging and going back to look through the news. She had her legs on her desk as she scrolled on the mobile device. 

“Anyways, you find something interesting yet, Songhee?” Yiyeon questioned as she put her arms under her head.

“Nah. Just boring headlines after boring headlines.” 

“Hm. What about you, Simyeong?”

“Nothin’. There’s never anything new or fun these days.”

“You said it.” Songhee nodded while agreeing and yawned. 

“Hey Jungwoo, you’ve been on your computer all day. You sure you haven't seen anything yet?” Yiyeon gazed 

“No. I’m working on something.” 

“And by working, you’re actually playing games?”

“W-what, of course not!” Jungwoo stuttered nervously while trying to focus on getting rid of all the zombies coming her way. It took painful hours for her to somehow download World War Z on her crappy computer. 

Yiyeon chuckled and merely rolled her eyes before facing up towards the ceiling again, thinking about the events that happened today. She recalled the morning when Simyeong and Songhee suddenly came into their office with bags full of groceries, Seungeun accidentally destroying her chair, again, while practicing taekwondo, Jungwoo raging on Call of Duty, and lastly, Yeji falling asleep on her desk for the fifth time this week. Everyone else in the fire station seemed to be off in their own business, but needless to say, it was oddly eventful today. And it was only going to continue that way. Yiyeon’s phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket as she quickly took it out and pressed answer, only to be surprised to hear Yeji on the other side. 

“Oh, Yeji-ah! How’s the ceremony—”

_ “UNNIE! I need you to get here NOW!!” _

“Whoa whoa, what?? Are you alright, what’s going on?” This instantly caught the other girls’ attention as their eyes averted towards their boss on the phone. Yiyeon sat up on her table.

_ “It’s an emergency! The rumor is true!!” _

“Oh god…Yeji, be careful, we’re on our way.” 

Hanging up the call, she hops off the desk as glances intensely waited for the next move. Jungwoo quickly paused her game and saved her progress so she could come back to begin where she last started from, Seungeun rubbed her eyes to get rid of the blurriness in her vision, and both Simyeong and Songhee quickly set all their stuff down. And on que, all four women stood up from their spots. 

“Gear up.”

* * *

The enormous brawl continued on for what seemed like hours on end. Heejin was getting tired while Yeji held off every Limbo member that charged towards her direction. She had told the detective fighting alongside her to take a break, but Heejin refused, wanting to help as much as she could, especially since Limbo was so close to stealing Lethe on several occasions. Normal, innocent guests were still trying to flood out of the building, but because there were so many attendees, it easily became a trampling mob. The officers and detectives undercover could only hope no one was hurt. With time at stake, the gas was still leaking as they fought back and forth. Yeji had to come up with a solution quickly before the ballroom was consumed of the flammable gas. She has alerted Hyunjin about this, to which the younger immediately called for more backup. 

Limbo kept coming in by the numbers and all the officers lost count of how many they’d already beaten down. Jiwoo, despite growing weary and parched, continued kicking everyone charging towards her, Haseul was fending off the mafia members who were trying to stop her from ruining their planned burglary, Vivi gripping onto her pocket knife since she had an injured shoulder, Sooyoung was busy protecting her, Chaewon and Yeojin using their tasers, and Heejin and Yeji teaming up together in order to fight against the oncoming attacks. The firefighter would occasionally duck downwards whenever Heejin alerted her that someone was behind before hopping over her to kick the Limbo member directly in the face. Afterwards, Yeji would give her a quick high five before going right back to fight again. 

In the midst of the fight, Juwon was hiding under a table and desperately clung to it for dear life. It was a miracle she wasn’t discovered yet. But hearing the chaos happening outside, she didn’t dare to even take a peek outside. Juwon thought back to when Jiwoo informed her that she was a police officer, and yet despite knowing this, she couldn’t help but anxiously worry for the younger girl. The CEO eventually decided to take deep breaths, slowly inhaling and exhaling out in order to calm her heart beat. Juwon finally gathered up enough courage to lift the table covers and peek outside. To her utter surprise, Jiwoo was absolutely kicking their asses. Oh right, she had a black belt in taekwondo, how could Juwon have forgotten that?

Upon seeing this, the woman quickly ran out of her hiding place and towards Jiwoo, who just beaten down yet another Limbo member, successfully knocking them out cold. When she felt a hand suddenly grasped her wrist, Jiwoo spun around to connect her knuckles to whoever’s face it was, only to immediately halt and let out an audible gasp when she saw a frightened Juwon. The younger's expression softened in an instant, despite her heart rapidly beating inside. 

“Juwonnie, I was looking for you.” Jiwoo informed the older woman in between her panting. It almost broke Juwon’s heart seeing her so tired. 

“I-I’m sorry, I just—it happened so suddenly….”

“No it’s ok, I understand.”

“Come on, we have to leave now. Ever since that rumor, I’ve prepared one of my cars with a driver incase it happened.”

“Oh, but I have to stay and help.”

“Is it honestly worth the risk right now?” Juwon held onto both of Jiwoo’s hand. “They have to understand this.”

“I-I…look, it may seem really dangerous at the moment, but I promise you, I can handle this, Juwon.”

“Wooming, please. I’ve lost you once…I won’t lose you again.”

The CEO gently squeezed both her hands tighter. She was taken aback by the nickname, something she hadn’t heard the older woman say in years. It was a difficult decision to make since Jiwoo valued her job very much, and most importantly, her friends. She knew she couldn’t just leave them in combat and fend for themselves, but knowing the circumstances and dangers in this, that was what made her choices so conflicting. Jiwoo quickly glanced around the area. Haseul seemed to be doing alright, although she looked visibly tired with all the Limbo members constantly coming towards her way, Yeji and Heejin were still tag-teaming against everyone charging at them, and Sooyoung was seemingly on the brink of passing out. Hyunjin was nowhere to be seen, but Jiwoo could only hope she was doing fine. Averting her attention back towards Juwon, she gave a small, hesitant nod, to which the CEO replied by immediately dragging her away, hoping to safely make it out of the ceremony. 

They were close to the exit when another hand suddenly grasped Jiwoo’s other wrist. The halt surprised them as both of the women turned around to see who it was, only to be surprised to see Jungeun. Juwon couldn’t help but feel nervous and perhaps a slight twinge of guilt upon seeing the blonde. Before Jiwoo could say anything, Jungeun already beat her to it. 

“Jiwoo. We need to go! The exit is this way.”

“I have a getaway car ready.”

“I drive faster.” Jungeun practically growled, sliding her hand down to Jiwoo’s and intertwining their fingers. She looked torn while frowning, glancing between Jungeun and Juwon who were each holding onto her. That was when she realized Jungeun must’ve done something, hence Juwon’s need to apologize repeatedly and glared at the former, although not letting go of her hand. 

“My chauffeur was a professional race car driver.”

“Yeah? Was.”

“We’re heading this direction instead because it’s safer.”

“I have my own route as well, Juwon. I’m sure Jiwoo wouldn’t mind.”  
  
“W-wait, what—”

“I’ve already had a conversation with her, Jungeun. She’s coming with me.”

“Hm, you sure never know when to learn, Cha Juwon.”  
  
“Hey—what the hell is going on??” Jiwoo was ignored once again as the unexpected argument continued on.

“I’ve learned enough to know what she wants if she says yes.”  
  
“But did you not just pressure her into answering that? Did you give her a chance?”

“N-no, but—”

“Then I’m afraid this has already been established. This way, Jiwoo.”

“Now hold on!” Juwon continued tightening her grip on the younger officer’s wrist, which further irritated Jungeun. “What gives you the right to just take her away?”

“She’s my girlfriend!” 

A sudden moment of silent shock mercilessly pierced through Juwon’s heart. Within a few seconds, millions of questions raced through her mind. How was that possible? Have they been together ever since she left? Since when did this happen? And something she hated to even ask, but…did Jiwoo ever love her? Juwon was mostly conflicted with Jungeun, feeling as though their friendship never meant anything with the way she was acting right now. She failed to notice Jiwoo’s shocked expression, however. The younger officer was not only horrified but angry at Jungeun for suddenly blurting it out like some sort of show-off. She quickly looked back at Juwon, only to see her glossy, tear stricken eyes returning the stare. Just when Jiwoo was about to say something in hopes to clear up the misunderstanding, Jungeun pulled Jiwoo away from Juwon’s weak grasp before walking away, leaving the now saddened CEO to merely stand there and watch them exit to the back. 

Jiwoo still gazed back to where Juwon was standing, until she couldn’t see her anymore as she was now outside in the cold night. The officer glared at the blonde who was dragging her wrist. Jiwoo quickly yanked it away from Jungeun’s grasp, surprising the older girl who looked at her with an arched eyebrow.

“What’s wrong??”

“‘What’s wrong’?! Jungeun, are you serious right now?”

“Huh—what do you mean?”

“Juwon and I were just catching up, then you waltzed in out of nowhere to tell her we’re together??”

“She had to know at some point! And no! I didn’t just attend this stupid party to tell anyone anything. We were at the peak of the moment.”

“That doesn’t excuse anything, Jungeun!” Jiwoo raked a hand through her hair and huffed with frustration. “Also what the _ hell _ was that back there? Since when were you and Juwon so hostile to each other?”

“U-uh….”

“Aren’t you two friends?? Did something happen before all of this?”

“No, it’s just—”

“Ugh, just forget it. We’ll talk about this later.”

“Well what do you wanna do now then?? I’m not going back in there.”

“Then just head home because I still need to help my friends clean this mess up.” Jiwoo huffed again before turning around and was about to re-enter the exit when Jungeun quickly gripped onto her wrist again.

“Oh no you’re not. Don’t you realize how dangerous it is??”

“Like I said, you should go home, Jungeun. I’m an officer for a reason.” 

The younger girl released herself from the blonde’s grip once again before hurrying back inside, now leaving just Jungeun to stand outside in the bitter night. She glared at nothing but the door Jiwoo had just walked through, though also contemplating on what to do next. Despite what she was told to do, she couldn’t just go home alone without the love of her life. Sighing, Jungeun had on other choices but walk to her car and dial a number on her phone. Within just one ring, the person quickly picked up. 

_“Good evening, Jungeun.”_

“Hey, meet me at the bar, will ya? I need to rant.”

_ “I just got home and started cuddling my baby, seriously now?” _

“Please~? I’ll pay for your drink.” A brief moment of silence ensued before the person answered.

_ “Fine. I’ll be there in 10.” _

“Thanks, see you later.”

_ “Bye.” _

After hanging up the call, Jungeun took a deep breath and unlaced her tie. She sat back for a few moments before turning on the ignition of her car and driving away to the bar. Meanwhile, Jiwoo was currently running back into the chaos of the ballroom, her first instinct was to find where Juwon was. However, she was saddened when the CEO was nowhere to be found, assuming she’d already left when Jungeun dragged Jiwoo away. The younger officer could only sigh when she came to the realization that she’ll have to scold the blonde later, but now was the time to get back to work. As she dashed into action, Jiwoo noticed a Limbo member sneaking up to Hyunjin as she was making some call, practically yelling into her phone and failed to realize that she was about to be ambushed. Jiwoo hastily ran up to the younger girl and came to her rescue, quickly striking the Limbo member’s with her feet, knocking them out cold to the ground. Hyunjin, despite how loud she was yelling at the person on the other side of her call, was startled by a noise behind her and quickly whirled around to see what happened. It took her a few seconds to realize what had just happened when she saw the Limbo member unconscious on the ground and Jiwoo towering over them. Hyunjin almost got the creeps when she looked at her friend’s angry expression. 

“Hey, thanks, Jiwoo-unnie.”

“Welcome. Come on, we have to go help Haseul.” 

The officer quickly sped away towards where Haseul, Heejin and Yeji were as Hyunjin watched. It took her so long to explain to the medics about what was going on because they needed to get here now and she especially had no time to talk. Her station members were busy fighting while she was stuck here in the middle of a pointless conversation when she should be out there helping. By the time the medics _ finally _ said they were on their way, Hyunjin immediately hung up before running into action as fast as possible, not wanting to waste anymore time moping around. The first thing that happens as she was on her way were two mafia gangsters charging forward in her direction with the intent to fight. Without hesitation, Hyunjin ducked the first punch and tackled the other person, causing to trip over a chair and fall backwards. The one who attempted the first hit was still standing, so Hyunjin quickly ran away towards where Yeji and Heejin. 

“Hey!!” Her call caught both of their attention. “A little help here!” The firefighter looked behind Hyunjin and noticed one of the mafia members chasing her. Seeing this, she knew what to do immediately. 

“Duck!” The younger detective did as told before rolling over onto the ground for Yeji jump and aim her fist before nailing the person’s face hard. That will definitely leave a week-long bruise. “What the hell took you so long?”

“They had to keep delaying the call for some reason, so I was forced to reexplain every time.”

“But the paramedics are coming right?” Heejin wanted to make sure because that should be the only important right now. 

“Yes.”

“Ok, good. Then let’s just stop Limbo before they steal Lethe!”

“But when are the firefighters getting here??”

“My boss said she’s on her way! Now come on!”

With that being said, all three of them hastily ran towards the mafia members crowding just below where the security camera, installed with Lethe’s software, as they continued climbing up ladders to get to it. No matter how many times Haseul and Heejin taken them down, Limbo would always try to find a way around it. They’ve dealt with many gang related crimes before, but oddly, this mafia was somehow different from others. Needless to say, they needed to be stopped. Hyunjin tried her best help without getting herself hurt even more, Yeji was mostly defending Heejin from getting hurt, Haseul continued taking down the ladders, and everyone else were practically wearing out. Chaewon and Yeojin hid under the buffet tables together as the older blonde carried a cooking pan with her incase any of the Limbo members found them.

As the fight went on, Hyunjin was about to lose it. Seeing all the Limbo members appearing out of nowhere was absolutely frustrating because there was no way to stop it. She’d never a mafia with this many members before. Maybe Limbo was more powerful than anyone expected since this attack was unexpectedly huge. And speaking of which, gas was beginning to reach the ballroom because the scent of it was evident. Now panicking, Yeji was starting to worry whether or not her boss and friends will arrive on time before the whole building was engulfed with gas. But the last thing they all expected was—

  
  


**ARRFF ARRF ARFF BARK WOOF WOOF RUFF ARRAF ARFFRF BARRK!!!!!**

  
  


"IT'S THAT BARKING DETECTIVE, _ RUN _!!!"

And this certainly was not the type of reaction that the station and Yeji were expecting to see from a fearsome mafia like Limbo. As all of them immediately cowered away, ironically, Hyunjin began chasing all of them out of the ceremony building. Some tripped over each other while trying to escape the area as fast as they could. It was an amusing sight to see Limbo members hurriedly hiding away as the younger detective continued growling at them. This went on for the next few minutes and chaos continued reigning throughout the ballroom. The station members and Yeji were still holding Limbo back from stealing Lethe, doing their very best. But little did they know…that was only their distraction. A few mafia members quietly, stealthily slipped away to stay hidden until the time was right and rob the software in another location. Lucky for them, they knew there was a second device that had Lethe in it and exactly where it was. They waited backstage behind the curtains, mutely eyeing the screen projector left abandoned on the set after chaos ensued….

* * *

  
  
  
  


The streets were oddly crowded today, so it was rather difficult to drive freely and navigate a certain area. Despite the frantic alarm the truck was blaring and the bright flashing lights, people didn’t seem to understand their emergency. The driver constantly had to honk for everyone to get the hell out of the way. They had a strategy and that was to turn on the alarm louder, in hopes that would bring more attention. But that hardly brought any luck because, for some reason, traffic was heavy tonight.

“Move it, idiots, MOVE IT!!” Yiyeon slammed the honk on the wheel and stepped on it when she saw a clear path for once. 

“Can this damn firetruck go any faster?? Yeji called us 20 minutes ago!” Simyeong shouted in the back while carefully preparing their equipment through the bumpy road.

“I’m trying!”

“Ugh, I told you we should’ve bought a better one! That new truck would’ve been more efficient than this dump.”

“Not now, Jungwoo!” 

The short-haired nerd sat in the passenger while clutching onto her laptop to pull up the GPS, as well as her seatbelt because she feared a car accident could happen with the way her boss was driving. Songhee and Seungeun were helping Simyeong prepare their stuff, so by the time they finally arrive, they’ll be ready in time. But now, there was no telling when that will be with all the traffic in their way. They could only hope Yeji was holding off well with the gas leak and wasn’t hurt. Jungwoo looked back on her GPS, only to realize that they were nearing their location. With raised eyebrows, she quickly shared the new with her teammates, much to their delight. 

“We’re close! Keep going, unnie!” With the encouragement, Yiyeon quickly stepped on the pedal as the firetruck raced ahead. 

“Alright, I think we can park just outside the entrance.” Songhee informed her boss as she sat to get ready. 

“No time!!”

“W-what do you mean??” Jungwoo frowned, along with everyone else in the truck, before looking at the older firefighter beside her. 

“Hold onto something!!!”

Before the four other girls realized it, Yiyeon was heading straight for the _ wall _. They all immediately screamed for their lives as Jungwoo frantically clutched onto her seatbelt while everyone else held onto each other. Yiyeon slammed her foot on the pedal and drove straight forward, mischievous glints in her eyes. This was not going to be pretty.

  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Meanwhile, Yeji was growing tired from fighting so much. It’s been years since she fought this hard, thus realizing she needed to work out more. Heejin was still fighting, which surprised her because she didn’t expect the detective to have this much stamina. Hyunjin ran around and barked like a crazy animal, scaring away all the Limbo members in sight. Yeji groaned in frustration as this pointless fight still went on when everyone should’ve been evacuated by now since the gas was starting to fill in the ballroom. Taking out her phone, she quickly dialed her boss’s number to question where she was. But to her surprise, Seungeun picked up instead.

“Hey! What’s taking you so l—”

_ “TAKE COVER NOW!!” _

After hearing the alert, Yeji immediately heard muffled honking behind the wall. She recognized that noise anywhere. When Heejin saw the firefighter stand frozen in her spot, she questioned what was wrong, but Yeji continued to remain silent. That was when Heejin heard honking as well, it sounded urgent. Soon everyone stopped what they were doing in the ballroom as soon as they heard it, too. Just where was it coming from? The firefighter quickly scanned around her area in hopes to detect the noise. And soon enough, it became louder from where she stood, right behind the wall next to her. Instantly, Yeji dragged both the detectives away from where the honking was practically roaring. 

“Everyone!! Get out of the way!!!” 

She shouted for her friends to hear as Haseul, Sooyoung, Jiwoo and Vivi immediately complied and cleared the path far away from the wall. Chaewon and Yeojin had no clue what was going on, but they certainly weren’t coming out from under the buffet tables any time soon. Yeji had picked up Heejin in one of her arms while dragging Hyunjin by the wrist with her other hand. The older detective quickly hugged her, scared for what was gonna happen next since everything was unpredictable at this point. Like in slow motion, the wall suddenly crumbled down and the firetruck’s front crashed through. They’d narrowly dodged getting hit, as well as being crushed by the debris. Hyunjin balled up and had her arms protectively over her head while Yeji covered Heejin by laying on her as the detective buried her face in the older’s shoulder. 

After a few moments of realizing that had just happened, Yeji looked over her shoulders to see the front of the familiar firetruck she always sees in the garage of their fire station. Then, she saw one of her firefighter friends, Jungwoo, limp out of the large vehicle, shaking in fear before falling to her knees while clutching onto her closed laptop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! We're just getting started :D


	18. Missed You

The dust hadn’t even settled when even the people that had been attacking others started stampeding toward the exit in fear. Yeji pulled Heejin out of the way, but was unsuccessful in getting completely out of the way as they got shoved into the nearest wall.

“Goddamn.” The firefighter cursed, annoyed at getting pushed around but was able to reach her teammate. “Jungwoo-unnie! What the  _ hell _ was that?!” Yeji quickly ran up to the shaken girl on the ground and helped her stand to her feet, though she was still breathing heavily from the fear.

“…you’re asking the wrong person, Yeji.” Jungwoo placed a palm on the side of the truck to keep herself balanced. 

“Where is everyone?”

Just then, the passenger door opened again with Seungeun limping out before dropping to the ground and crawling away from the vehicle. She layed on the ground, too shocked to comprehend what her boss just did as she placed an arm over her eyes and sighed. Next was Simyeong and Songhee, who also went through the passenger door. They both looked up at the gigantic hole that the fire truck created in the wall, merely shaking their heads at their boss’s action. How in the world were they going to explain this to the police? But luckily for the two, Yiyeon was the last to get out and sighed as she was satisfied with finally arriving to the ceremony. To her surprise though, the place was in more of a wreck than she initially expected. Yiyeon looked around to see who she should ask, but Haseul already beat her to it. 

“Excuse me, may I please have your name?”

“Jung Yiyeon! Nice to meet ya, I’m the chief executive of the fire department and can I say, this is one hell of a mess.” She chuckled before gazing around again. 

“Right…I’m Jo Haseul, the captain of BBC Force in Station #1.” The older woman’s eyes practically widened when she heard the information. 

“Oh! Well, officer, it’s a pleasure that we meet.”

“I’d say so, too. If our situation was a bit more suitable, that is. You realize this building is private property, right?” Yiyeon frozen immediately.

  
  


_ Aw crap. _

  
  


Jungwoo audibly gasped behind. “That’s right! It might belong to the CEO of Argus….”

“Just great, we’re gonna be in debt after this shit.” Songhee groaned, only to be shushed by her boss. 

“Now hold on, hold on. Officer Jo?” Haseul averted her attention towards the firefighter. “If we successfully stop the gas leak, can that make up for the cost?”

“Well, I have to speak with the CEO—”

“Yes.” Jiwoo interrupted her captain, to everyone’s surprise. “Juwon wouldn’t really care, it’s fine, unnie.”

“Oh uh, alright. But you have to be quick, chief. There are still people here that need to be evacuated.”

“Gotcha! You guys, time to roll!”

As commanded, the rest of the firefighters quickly got their wits together and quickly gathered their equipment, putting on their gas masks before making sure their bunker suits were secure enough so they could rush in. Haseul quickly shouted for the remaining innocent guests to run outside for the authorities to handle the situation. Sooyoung hastily, but carefully, assisted Vivi up to her feet and lead the older woman out the exit to safety. Chaewon and Yeojin finally came from under the buffet tables to follow Sooyoung while Jiwoo and Haseul stayed behind just in case there were still anymore people. Oddly enough, there weren’t anymore Limbo members in sight so they assumed the mafia finally had enough and ditched the area. Hyunjin and Heejin stayed behind in hopes they could help the firefighters with their job. Yeji has insisted the two detectives to evacuate the place, but they were too stubborn to do so. 

“Come on, Yeji! Just give us the gears, we really want to help.” Hyunjin tried grabbing some gloves from the fire truck but the older girl quickly stopped her. 

“You’re not properly trained for this! So you need to—”

“Let us stay, Yeji-ah, pretty please?” Heejin placed her hand on the firefighter’s wrist. 

“U-uh, I—ugh, fine. But you both need to stick with me! Or at least one of the other girls if they could use some help.”

“Ok, deal!” The younger detective quickly agreed before swiftly putting on the gloves, helmet and gas mask that were handed to her. 

The stampeding crowd was hard to see through, but through the frantically moving bodies, the newly arrived firefighters dashed quickly towards the source of the gas. The crew and two detectives rushed to the “employees only” entrance where the gas leak was primarily leaking from. But for some reason, it was locked, so Yiyeon instinctively stepped forward and harshly kicked the door down and instantly got it open. They all ran through the hallways, navigating in the thick mist of gas. By the time they finally found the kitchen, some of chefs and waitresses were still inside. Seungeun, Yeji, Songhee and Jungwoo immediately rushed forward to carry them out of the kitchen, with the two detectives helping out. Jungwoo powerfully lifted two chefs onto her back before exiting the room, Songhee lifted heavy shelves at least 5 times her size so Seungeun and Yeji could get them out. 

Meanwhile, Yiyeon and Simyeong reached the source: burst pipes. The captain gestured Simyeong over to the gas valve and she rushed to start twisting it. They were so concentrated on the gas leak that they failed to notice the two figures sneaking up behind them until Yiyeon felt a blunt object hit her helmet. She pretended to faint at that, hoping to use the element of surprise shortly. On the other hand, Yiyeon was shocked and injured before quickly retaliated back by punching one of them in the face hard. Boxing really paid off. Just when the other was about to Yiyeon to the ground, their trick ironically backfired when Simyeong was to stick to her feet and prevented the Limbo member from hurting her captain. She immediately ushered Yiyeon to continue working on closing the gas leak while she dealt with the two attackers as they both slowly got back up. Simyeong managed to fend them off and shoved them backwards before grabbing a large wrench from her belt, holding it defensively. The Limbo members focused on her now, cornering her. 

  
  


ー

  
  


Outside the kitchen, Yeji let out a sigh of relief once the last of the civilians had been evacuated from the venue. She didn’t have to worry about watching out for them now: only defending herself and Heejin from the limbo members still attacking and destroying the place in a frenzy. However, she failed to notice one Limbo member sneaking up on her with a switchblade until a familiar voice screamed. Hyunjin’s voice. Yeji turned in time to see the detective hit her attacker over the head with a bottle of champagne, sending them to the floor. 

Yeji gaped at Hyunjin for a long second before holding up her arm for a bro hug. Hyunjin accepted although it was very painful for her healing body, she managed to smile through the pain when Yeji pulled back to look at her. 

"Thanks!" 

"You're welcome." She returned the gesture with a strained voice while stretching her torso. "Hey, we should head back now. Yiyeon and Simyeong should've headed out by now." 

"Oh, you're right. Crap, you should head there first, there are still some crooks that need to be dealt with." 

"Got it." 

With that being said, Hyunjin was the first to arrive back after helping the other firefighters with their work in saving people. She was nonetheless surprised to see two people, whom she quickly assumed were apart of Limbo, knocked out on the ground. Shortly after, everyone finally arrived back to the kitchen, equally surprised when they saw the scene unfolded before them. The two attackers were dragged away by Hyunjin and Heejin, and out to where Haseul was standing. The captain arrested them with handcuffs before shoving the Limbo members into her police car. 

Back in the kitchen, Jungwoo and Seungeun got the last remaining people out while their boss and two friends deal with the gas leak. This continued for a whole hour as Jungwoo tended to the chefs and waitresses who were passed out in the kitchen, seeing that they might’ve inhaled too much gas. The ambulance, paramedics, and police backup finally arrived to the scene. Medics rushed inside with their equipment while authorities quickly taped-off the area in order to prevent outsiders from trespassing. After an hour passed, the gas leak finally stopped as firefighters cleared out the remaining perimeter, making sure there wasn’t anyone else they unintentionally left behind. 

Outside, Yeji was removing her gas mask and gloves, placing them back in the fire truck. Heejin was sitting on the edge inside of the vehicle, seemingly waiting for the older girl to finish. Hyunjin was being treated by the nurses from the ambulances, Haseul was discussing the situation with lieutenant Im, Vivi, and Sooyoung, while Chaewon, Yeojin, and Jiwoo were waiting in the station’s van. The firefighters were excused, though Yiyeon still had to pay a few fines for the wall she practically destroyed on her way to the rescue. The others were amused at their boss complaining about losing money, shaking their heads before boarding their fire truck.

“Yeji-ah! I  _ finally _ downloaded World War Z on my computer, wanna join me and Seungeun so we can team up?”

“Oh hell yeah! I gotta tell Ryujin about this.”

“Great! The more, the merrier. Also, the first level starts in New York or something and I’m setting it on hard mode, so be prepared.”

“What?? You know I’m a noob when it comes to zombie games.”

“Trust me, you’ll learn a lot faster. I haven’t seen Seungeun perish ever since she tried hard mode the Last of Us.”

“Ugh, fine.” 

On another side of the area, a nurse had just finished bandaging Hyunjin’s wounds on her arms before packing up her aid kit and walking back to the ambulance. Afterwards, the younger detective sighed while leaning her back on the passenger seat of her car. She was surprised she even made it out of the ceremony alive, especially since Limbo practically plagued the area with the intent to cause harm on innocence. All for an advanced software. Her phone’s vibration interrupted her train of thoughts, quickly fishing it out of her pocket to see who was calling, only to be surprised to see that it was Chaeyoung.

Hyunjin quickly picked up and heard the older girl yell excitedly. “HYUN!!”

The detective instinctively set her farther away from her ear. “Ow jeez, what is it, Chae?”

“NAGYUNG IS AWAKE!!!”

“WHAT?!” Hyunjin shouted back, instantly earning shocked and concerned looks towards her. She quietly apologized and continued the call, whispering loudly. “How is she??” 

“I think she’s sleepy right now because she just woke up, but you  _ have _ to get here now!”

“Ok, alright, I’m on my way!” Hyunjin quickly hung up the call. 

The younger detective looked at her surroundings to find where her partner and Yeji were. Then, her eyes stopped when she saw them talking with Jungwoo at the firetruck. As Jungwoo made her way into the firetruck, Hyunjin began running towards them as they chat amongst themselves. Yeji just finished putting her stuff away before averting her attention to the lonesome detective sitting at the edge of the vehicle. Chuckling, Yeji took a seat next to Heejin, curious to know what was on her mind after the eventful night today.    


“Hey.”

“Hi.”

“How are you feeling, Heejin?”

“Tired.”

“Same. You should rest when you get home.”

“Can’t. My house is still a mess.”

“Oh what happened?”

“Long story. An old friend of mine and Kim somehow got in. But she wasn’t like herself because she was on something created by Limbo. Then after that, we had a whole brawl which ended with all of us in the hospital.”

“Jesus christ, who’s your friend?”

“You know Choi Yena? That was her.”

“Oooooh her! The one who disappeared?”

“Yep. She’s fine now. They were able to extract all of the serum from her.”

“Well that’s good.” Yeji sighed in relief of the story’s ending as she took in all the information. “Say, what’s this about a serum? What does it do?”

“From what I know so far, it gives the average person super strength and speed. Since Yena was already strong from training in the academy, she almost beat me and Kim during the fight in my house.”

“Whoa…so it’s like some sort of enhancement? Gives you powers and stuff?”

“Basically yeah.”

“That’s rough. Do you know exactly how big Limbo is?”

“I’m not entirely sure. But, assuming they’re a powerful organization since there’s a lot of them. We recently discovered there was a mole in Saerom’s station.”

“S-Saerom…?” That was when it dawned Heejin. Of course Yeji knew who the captain was. 

“O-oh, I’m sorry I didn’t—”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I just…haven’t spoken to her in years. As well as…the others.” Heejin placed her hand on Yeji’s. 

“I know, even thinking about it is hard to grasp. But maybe you’ll talk to them soon.” Just then, Hyunjin appeared in front of them and it looked like she wanted to talk to the firefighter since she was only focusing on her.

“Hey, Yeji. Mind if I talk to you for a bit?”

“Ugh, what now, man?”

“Just need to ask you something.”

“Hm, alright. I’ll see you in a bit, beautiful.” 

Heejin madly blushed at her comment, shyly looking elsewhere while placing both her hands on her cheeks. Hyunjin rolled her eyes as always, still disbelieving that Yeji hasn’t stopped flirting even after all that has happened tonight. And god, of all people, it just had to be her dang partner. Nice. The two distanced themselves from the firetruck, coming to a stop at a light pole and Yeji leaned on the object. 

“So what do you wanna tell me? And hurry up, I need to go back and play some World War Z.”

“What?? That just got released? Can I play?”

“Nope.” Hyunjin pouted at the answer before sighing and shaking her head to refocus on what she wanted to ask.

“Ok anyways, I’ve been thinking about this ever since I arrived at your fire station.”

“What is it?”

“So uh…I’ve told you how the girls have been in the hospital, right?”

“Yeah. You’re sure they’re ok?”

“They’re fine, I promise. Chaeyoung just called me.”

“Ok. And what’d she say?”

“Nagyung is awake.”

“W-wait what? Are you serious? Is she ok??” Yeji suddenly stood up straight at the news, surprising Hyunjin with the onslaught of questions. 

“She’s fine, just tired from, you know, everything.” The older girl sighed in relief. 

“When can she get discharged from the hospital? Surely the stay there isn’t too pleasant.”

“Ugh, yeah it’s not. And I haven’t been told yet. But um…I was thinking maybe…you want to visit the girls?”

“What…? No way, no I-I can’t—”

“Yeji, please it’ll be fine, trust me.”

“Look, I…they don’t deserve to be reminded of that awful past. They’ve been through enough, so…me just being there will probably make things worse.”

“Hey, don’t think that. They’ve forgiven you already and I’m sure they’ll be more than delighted to see you again.”

“H-how can you be so sure…?”

“Because I know they’re not one to hold a grudge so easily. You’re too good for that, Yeji. And above all, you really matter to us, we miss you. It’s fine if you don’t want to come visit, but…it would mean the world.” The firefighter stood there, taking in Hyunjin’s meaningful words. She took a few seconds to think about her choice, until she finally came to a conclusion.

“Ok.”

“Thanks, Yeji. Really.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s get this over with.”

“Alright.” They returned back to the same spot at the fire truck where Heejin was still sitting. Yeji was wondering why her boss hasn’t left yet, so she looked at the front to see what was going on. There, she saw Yiyeon being lectured by Lieutenant Im about the damages done. She chuckled at the sight before averting her attention back to Heejin. “Jeon, we’re going back to the hospital.”

“Ugh, did Dr.Kim remind you?”

“No, it’s because Nagyung is awake now.”

“Really?? Oh my god, then let’s hurry!” The older detective was immediately up to her feet upon hearing the news. She grabbed both Hyunjin and Yeji’s hand, pulling them towards her partner’s car.

“Ow! Easy, will ya?” Hyunjin groaned as her arm was yanked. The same one where her shoulder was previously dislocated for fist pumping in the air. 

  
  
  


———

  
  
  


It was just like any other day, but for Nagyung, it was like a prison. She didn't feel at home and the only thing that was comforting was her girlfriend keeping her company. But there was definitely something that kept haunting her; the permanent scar on her abdomen. It was an endless loop that she couldn't escape from. And the nightmare only left her traumatized on that fateful late afternoon. Nagyung felt strange and quite anxious just thinking about it. Soon, the feeling was too much and she felt a bit nauseous. She pushed her tray of hospital food away, not feeling like eating any longer as Chaeyoung looked at her with a gaze full of concern. Nagyung smiles softly and shook her head and wordlessly told her she was fine before beckoning her girlfriend closer. She leaned in to kiss the taller girl, hoping it would soothe her concern when the door opened. Nagyung was about to be annoyed at the person interrupting, but it turned out to be Seoyeon and Saerom visiting her ward. 

"Nakko-ah!" Seoyeon quickly embraced her friend with a loving hug as if they hadn't seen each other in years. 

"So glad you're awake." Saerom took a seat next to the younger's bed and held her hand. 

"Hey guys…I missed you. How have you been?" 

"Never better." The brunette answered before a seat next to Chaeyoung. 

"Could be better though. It's been a long day." Their captain sighed and rested her elbow on the soft mattress. "What about you, Nagyung?"

"Um…I'm ok, I guess…." 

"Hey, you're alright, baby. We're here. Hyunjin and Heejin will be here soon."

"Oh neat, you called them?" Seoyeon inquired and looked towards Chaeyoung. 

"Yeah, they should be on the road right now." Nagyung sighed in relief at this and clutched onto Chaeyoung's hand with her free one as they started socializing while patiently waiting. 

  
  
  


———

  
  
  


The drive to the hospital was surprisingly silent, yet peaceful. Oddly enough, Yeji wasn’t flirting anymore as Hyunjin assumed it was because she was about to meet Saerom and the girls after years of no contact. Heejin was sitting in the back, quietly stealing glances at Yeji fidgeting in the passenger seat. She couldn’t imagine the firefighter's life after her fight against Chaeyoung during the academy and inevitable expulsion. She hoped Yeji has moved on since the other girls have already done so. Hyunjin was also quite nervous for what was to come, but nonetheless had to focus on driving so they could get there safely. When they finally arrived at the hospital, Yeji could barely bring herself out of the car, still having her seat belt strapped on. Therefore, it took a lot of effort to drag the fire fighter out of the vehicle, which nearly turned physical. Groaning, Yeji had to let Hyunijn drag her by the wrist while Heejin followed closely behind. 

The older girl’s anxiety rose as every step they took felt like it was coming closer to doom. It was difficult to imagine how the girls would react if they saw her, especially Chaeyoung. Despite Hyunjin’s reassurance, Yeji couldn’t help but feel trapped, the walls closing in and preventing her from escaping. It was almost claustrophobic. When the elevator stopped at a hallway, the detectives walked out while coaxing Yeji to follow them. They walked down the end of the corridor, each step was agonizing. Then Hyunjin suddenly stopped in front of a door. This was it. 

“Ok…are you ready?”

“U-uh, not really…can I—have a little more time?”

“Sure, but you can’t be here all day, Yeji.”

“You don’t have to worry too much.” Heejin placed a hand on the older’s arm, hoping it could give her some comfort. 

“We’ll go in first, Jeon.”

That being said, Yeji got out of their way hid behind the wall so she wouldn’t be seen in the doorway as they entered. Hyunjin and Heejin were immediately greeted with familiar voices inside, something Yeji hasn’t heard in years. She couldn’t believe this, but she missed hearing them. In the room, both detectives took seats beside Nagyung’s bed. The girl was sitting upright and was joyful to see her friends visiting her. Hyunjin held her hands, nearly crying while seeing Nagyung so bright and lively after a while. Soyeon and Chaeyoung were sitting on the Nagyung’s right while Hyunjin sat on the left. Saerom was standing near the window while observing the group talk about their night and merely being goofy with each other. She wished she could see this everyday, but knew for a fact that there were still trouble out in the world. But either way, the sight eased her stress. 

Hyunjin and Heejin informed the group about their event during the ceremony and how Limbo practically mobbed the building. Including the firefighters, who quite literally crashed the party and made an even bigger mess than expected. Though greatly amused by this story, Saerom and the girls were very worried about everyone else. But the detectives reassured them that everyone made it out, not fine, but alive at least. Haseul still had to talk to Juwon about the…hole in her building, Jiwoo, Sooyoung and Vivi were resting in the nurse’s office, Chaewon was in her apartment, while Yeojin stayed over at one of her friend’s house. 

“But yeah, crazy night.” Hyunjin ended the story there.

“You should’ve seen what happened though, Limbo was coming in by the hundreds. I had to take down more than 20 ladders to stop them from reaching the security camera.”

“Jesus. Honestly speaking, the CEO should plan much better security than that. How did Limbo even go through anyway?” Chaeyoung sat back in her seat, still puzzled by how the event occurred. 

“That’s what we’re still trying to figure out.”

“Either way, we’ll find out soon. How are you guys doing?”

“Never better! They have Netflix here.” Nagyung pointed to her TV, surprising both detectives in the room.

“Seriously?? You mean I could’ve finally caught up on Stranger Things this whole time?”

“You watch Stranger Things? She-Ra is worth the binge streaming.” Heejin argued against Hyunjin’s statement. 

“Yeah, Hyun. But beware, the show will make you  _ really _ frustrated. You should’ve seen Chaeyoung watch it.” Seoyeon chuckled while gesturing towards her taller friend. 

“Listen! Catra is a bitch!”

“Hey! No spoilers!” Heejin scolded the orange haired girl. “Anyways, how’s the stay here in the hospital?”

“It’s fine, I guess. Never thought I’d be here again.” Seoyeon merely shrugged before placing her elbow on Nagyung’s bed and her chin in her palm. Afterwards, Chaeyoung added on. 

“Agreed. I really busted some rib bones.” 

“But aside from that, we’ve gotten over it. The doctors are discharging you guys in a few days, right?” Hyunjin questioned while looking at her friends.

“Next week.” Saerom finally spoke up as she answered the younger detective’s inquiry. “We’ll be out of here.” This made the duo sigh in relief. 

“Great! I’ve been missing you guys.” 

“Hyunnie, you saw us hours ago.” Nagyung merely teased her friend while patting her hand. 

“Doesn’t mean I still can’t miss you.” 

“How baby of you.” Saerom smirked as she joined in on the teasing and Hyunjin pouted.

“Ahem.” Heejin quietly and subtly reminded Hyunjin that there was still a certain someone waiting outside. Immediately getting the message, the younger detective sat straight in her seat.

“Alright, so…before we go, there’s someone I’d like you guys to meet.”

“Oh! Let me guess, is it someone you like?” Seoyeon suggested, but that didn’t stop there.

“What—”

“Is it your mom?” Nagyung took her turn.

Then Chaeyoung. “Is it—”

“Stop! I’m being serious here. It’s someone we all know well.” Hearing this, Yeji gulped nervously, anxiety drastically rising. She shakingly placed her hand on the door knob lightly, feared that if she made even a single sound, it’ll give away her appearance. Luckily, the door didn’t have any small window. “You can come in.” Hyunjin informed, startling the fire fighter slightly. Well, here goes nothing. 

Carefully turning the knob, the door cracked open a little as the Saerom and the girls all avert their attention to the entrance. Yeji let out a deep breath while still shaking as Hyunjin stayed frozen in her seat, mentally coaxing her friend that it’s ok, as if she could hear it. As the door opened even more, Yeji finally appeared before them and revealed herself. However, she was still hiding behind it, only half of her face was shown. Either way, all four recognized the same girl whom they’d known years ago and she was miraculously back. And much taller than she was before. Nagyung instantly placed her hand over her mouth, too shocked to comprehend. Seoyeon stayed rooted in her seat, her eyes locked onto Yeji while Chaeyoung suddenly stood up. The firefighter was instinctively startled by the action but Hyunjin was quick to reassure her that she was fine and gently asked her to come closer. The older girl did as told, shuffling slightly closer but didn’t expect Chaeyoung to suddenly walk towards her. Yeji gasped and shut her eyes before turning her head away, feeling as though she was about to be punched in the face. But the last thing she expected was for the taller girl to give her a tight hug, arms wrapped around her neck.

Yeji felt her spine crack a little as she groaned against Chaeyoung. Shocked by this, she had no idea how to respond and neither did Hyunjin. The firefighter stood frozen when she heard Chaeyoung sniff in her shoulder. 

“God……I missed you so much.” She was brought to tears upon hearing the taller girl muffle the statement and immediately returned the hug, burying her face in her neck. 

“Yeddongie….” Nagyung whispered the firefighter’s given nickname, eyes becoming glossy at the sight. 

They couldn’t believe Yeji was here right now, never expecting to see her again after that fight in the academy long ago. It seemed she’d matured more and judging by her outfit, they assumed she was with the detectives at the ceremony while Limbo was infiltrating it. They guessed Yeji never stopped helping out and wondered how on earth Hyunjin even convinced her otherwise. But now that she was here, they were more than grateful for her courage to visit them. Saerom stepped closer to the two hugging girls and patted Yeji on the back as she cried with Chaeyoung. The captain smiled adoringly at the sight, it was just so precious. She, too, had missed the firefighter ever since she left the academy, being one of the lucky people to have mentored an amazing person like Yeji. Saerom had lots of questions for the younger girl, but so did the others. When the two reluctantly separated from their hug, Chaeyoung wiped her own tears away with her sleeve and slightly stepped back to give room for Seoyeon to go next, the embrace as passionate as the previous one. 

“Glad to see you again, Yeji-ah.”

“Y-you too….” She stuttered through her crying and buried her face in the older girl’s shoulder.

“Where’ve you been all this time anyway?”

“Oh you know, just…busy with life and stuff.”

“Well it’s been 6 years, you dork. Should’ve visited us sooner. I still remember your baby face.” Soyeon lightly teased and chuckled when Yeji gently smacked her arm. “Wanna sit down with us?”

“S-sure.”

Both Soyeon and Chaeyoung took each of her hands before leading her towards the spot where they sat near Nagyung’s bed. The taller girl took an extra chair to sit on while giving Yeji her seat. Nagyung immediately grasped onto the firefighter’s hand, which surprised her but it quickly felt comforting. Hyunjin and Heejin, on the other hand, adored the sight before them, very well aware of Yeji’s backstory that she’d told them before all of this happened. They were more than relieved that she was here with them now. 

Soon, everyone was socializing, talking in conversations after conversations, and overall having a good time. They also teased each other before exchanging social media to catch up on life. But they were more curious about Yeji’s after she left the academy early to which she revealed how hard she’d studied to become a firefighter and got the job in her current fire station soon after applying for it. Nonetheless, the girls were impressed by the achievement, but also not surprised Yeji never gave up fighting, especially with this hazardous night at the ceremony. Chaeyoung especially wondered what would it be like if she could fight side by side with Yeji. The incident of their violent brawl during the academy seemed to have gone to the back of their heads, forgotten in a ditch as they enjoyed their time together. Needless to say, it was very nostalgic and Yeji didn’t realize she could miss it this much. 

  
  


———

  
  


The clock soon struck at 9PM and everyone had to go back to their ward. Saerom was the first to go, followed by Seoyeon, Heejin, then Hyunjin, with the addition of Jiho scolding her. It was just Chaeyoung, Nagyung and Yeji left in the room. They all continued talking more, reminding them of old, fun memories they had together, chaotic moments with the other girls, etc. But soon, Chaeyoung was instructed to leave and rest in her ward. 

“Chaeyoungie, you should go to sleep, it’s getting a bit late.” Nagyung suggested but the taller girl was slightly stubborn and didn’t want to leave her. 

“But I don’t want to…wanna stay with you.” She whined, earning a chuckled from Yeji and a playful eye roll from her girlfriend. 

“I want to talk with Yeji, honey. Now go to bed before they carry you away.” Nagyung gently squeezed Chaeyoung’s hand as the taller reluctantly stood up before placing a peck on her cheek and exiting the room. The two other girls bid goodbye to her. 

“You both are really great together. I’m glad she cares about you a lot.”

“Thanks.” Nagyung giggled and slightly blushed as Yeji had to hold herself back from cooing too much. “Anyways, I wanted you here so we could discuss some things that should be said.”

“Oh…like what?”

“Well, to start…I really missed you.”

“You’ve said that five times already.” The older chuckled before being lightly smacked by Nagyung. 

“Hey! I’m serious. The past has been a cycle in my head ever since you left. I’m not blaming you for anything, it’s just…complicated.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like you know how mixed emotions work? It was what I felt then. I couldn’t pinpoint my feelings when you weren’t there at the table with us during lunch, during class, and…being there in our lives. It was empty.”

“Nagyungie….” Yeji reached out to place her hand on the younger’s, to which she returned the contact and held it. “I won’t leave again. I can promise that.”

“Thank you. And we wouldn’t let you leave this time anyways.” They both chuckled at the small joke before getting serious once more. 

“Hey um…I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a long time, but I just didn’t know how to really express it.”

“What is it?”

“Uh, it’s kinda embarrassing.”

“Don’t worry, I have something to tell you as well.”

“Y-you do?”

“Mhm.”

“Then, do you want to go first? Or?”

“You can go first.”

“Alright…so, um…when we first met in our freshman year in the academy, I thought you were really b-beautiful and at that moment, I really wanted to ask you out on a date. But, being the scaredy cat I was, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Honestly, it was frightening to even confront anyone about my feelings, especially…you know, coming out and all. So, I tried to hold myself back and not weird you out with anything. I thought maybe we could just be close friends and that was it. However, my feelings somehow got stronger than expected. I got so scared thinking whether to confess or not. And that fear, um…lead to the fight……then after that, I promised to not let my feelings get the best of me ever again. I was always known to be that ‘big flirt’ amongst girls, therefore, I started doing that more in hopes I could just…move on from this endless nightmare…but I still thought of you. And the others. I’ve never forgotten you. I-I was…in love with you.” A tear rolled down Yeji’s cheek, to which she quickly wiped it away before averting her face elsewhere.

Nagyung practically held her breath to the firefighter’s confession, utterly shocked. After a brief moment of silence, she snapped out of her daze and gently used her other hand to cup Yeji’s cheek, bringing her attention back to her. “Yeji…I was in love with you, too.” Their watery eyes met each other. 

  
  


_ Oh my god. _

  
  


“Y-you were??”

“Yeah. Never would I have thought you’d like me back. I was so scared too. When you left…I tried moving on as well. It was very hard because I couldn’t get over my feelings for you. I didn’t even move on until last year.”

“Nagyung…I-I’m sorry I caused you to suffer like that.”

“No, it’s ok, you don’t have to apologize. The feeling’s mutual.” They both chuckled again. With that being said, both of them hugged each other tightly, though Yeji was careful because she didn’t want to hurt her while she was still recovering. 

“Anyways…Chaeyoung is a really good person, you two are perfect for each other.” 

“Thanks again. She’s one of a kind. Also, that reminds me. Have you ever thought of dating someone?”

“Me? Uh…I have actually. I’m not sure, but I might be dating this girl? It was never really confirmed, so….”

“What the—?! WHO?”

“Nakko~ not so loud.” Yeji whined before quickly telling her to stay quiet. 

“Sorry, but WHO???” Nagyung whispered loudly as the firefighter hesitantly revealed the person.

“You know Choi Jisu, aka Lia, the lawyer?”

“Holy shit! You’re dating her??”

“I—I don’t know? Maybe? I wouldn’t say yes. Yet.”

“Well what’s your relationship like then?”

“Uh…we go shopping, hang out at the cafe, hold hands, and sometimes kiss—”

“KISS!??!?!!?” Nagyung practically shouted again, which startled Yeji more than necessary. 

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE, NAGYUNG!”

“Sorry! That really surprised me.”

“Does that always happen whenever you get surprised??”

“You’d be shocked at how much Chaeyoung has to deal with me.”


	19. Saerom Birthday Special!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's late, we know. Just enjoy the chapter ksjxkzj


	20. Meeting Adjourned

After a day of much needed rest and reconciliation, it was finally time to head back. Hyunjin and Heejin had been eager to show Yeji around their station. Although Jiho, of course, didn’t let them out so easily and required another check-up for the two detectives before they could leave the building. Hyunjin unsurprisingly needed more medication because of her irrational decisions during the whole Limbo invasion in the ceremony. Yeji wanted to inform Nagyung that she’ll talk to her later and as she was doing so, Hyunjin suddenly barged and said, 

“Yeji! We gotta go!” 

“Why?? What happened?!” Yeji asked, jumping to her feet. Her heart felt as if it were about to jump out of her chest. What could’ve possibly occurred now?

“Oh nothing, Haseul just ordered Uber eats to the station so Chaewon wouldn’t try to cook while she’s gone…and I’m hungry so….” Just when she ended her explanation, Hyunjin didn’t get to duck in time when Yeji suddenly tossed a pillow to her face out of irritation.

Once outside the hospital, they hopped onto Hyunjin’s car and were now on their way to Haseul’s station. Chaewon had informed the two detectives that their captain had ordered Uber Eats for them before she went to Gangnam, so Hyunjin especially wanted to be there while the sandwiches and croissants were still there. The whole ride was quiet as Yeji draped her arm around Heejin in the back seat. The older detective sighed and leaned her head on her shoulder. Hyunjin, on the other hand, was too dazed to notice the flirts as a lot was already going through her mind about today. She thought about Limbo trying to steal Lethe during the ceremony and the reason why. 

It was obvious that the gas leak was to distract everyone from focusing on them while they committed the robbery. Putting everyone’s lives on the line was no surprise, every mafia would do that, she thought. Hyunjin wondered what they wanted to use Lethe for and why? There had to be a logical explanation behind all of this. But she also questioned whether or not Limbo actually succeeded in stealing the intelligent software or not. And that’s what worried her the most. Hyunjin’s thoughts were interrupted when a ding from Yeji’s pocket sounded. She pulled out her phone and smile, which made Heejin curious as to what she was all dopey about. The older detective felt like she was invading her privacy as she was looking a little over Yeji’s shoulder, but she couldn’t help it. As Hyunjin pressed the pedal forward on a green light, a car suddenly sped pass her, causing the detective to slam on the brakes and Yeji’s phone to fly out of her hands. 

“YA! KIM HYUNJIN!” Yeji yelled while glaring at the driver, who was quick to defend herself. 

“Hey, it wasn’t me! Some damn car didn’t stop on a fucking red light!” 

Hyunjin slapped her wheel and honked at the obnoxious passing car before driving forward again. She’d never been so close to getting into an accident before so it would’ve been horrific if she didn’t catch the vehicle coming towards her on time. Heejin picked up the misplaced phone and handed it back to Yeji, noticing the line of hearts beside the contact name that she couldn’t make out in time when the firefighter took it from her hand. Yeji smiled thankfully at Heejin before glaring at Hyunjin one last time and continuing to text.

“I don’t want…what’s her name…Sooyeon? Soonyeong? To finish all the bread again before I get there.” Hyunjin casted a slightly apologetic glance into the rear view mirror, but Yeji was already consumed by her text conversation again while Heejin raised an eyebrow at her.

“Her name is Sooyoung…she went to academy with us Kim. I cannot believe you don’t even know her NAME.”

“Listen! The only times I saw her there were when Hye called her hag.”

“Oh.” Heejin responded as her voice went soft, which went unnoticed by Hyunjin because she was too busy eyeing the road. But nonetheless, it stung her mentioning Hyejoo’s name suddenly. The car was silent besides the sounds of Yeji rapidly typing. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Heejin asked, “Who are you texting?”

“A friend….” Yeji grinned at message she just received which was very flirtatious in nature. 

“Just a friend?” She wiggled her eyebrows, making the firefighter chuckle. 

“Yeah. We’ve cuddled, kissed and fell asleep to the sound of each other’s heartbeats most nights of the week but that’s just platonic stuff.” Yeji explained so casually that it almost made Hyunjin stop the car and park by the sidewalk. Both she and Heejin frowned in confusion at this.

“Platonic??”

“A-are you being serious right now?” Heejin blinked and looked at Yeji like she had two heads.

“Uhh yeah, why wouldn’t I be? Lia is straight.” Oddly enough, she was completely serious. 

“Wow….” Heejin was processing Yeji’s words in her head yet still not understanding, because how?

“No way she’s straight if she does things as gay as that with you! And you don’t mind at all? Like bat an eye or anything??” Hyunjin questioned while driving, completely bewildered at how oblivious her friend was. Yeji set the phone down for the first time since she’s picked it up and went into a moment of thoughtful silence. 

“I don’t know actually. I do have feelings for her but I’m okay with it being one sided because it’s already nice to be her friend.” Yeji admitted as her smile falling a little. Heejin patted her on the back wearing a sympathetic smile. 

“Hold on. THE Lia?” Hyunjin asked.

“Yeah.”

“HOLY SHIT!” She shouted both at the answer and for seeing the red light so she slammed on the brakes once more, lurching them all forward on their seats. 

“HEY! FOCUS ON THE ROAD, DUMBASS!”

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


They finally arrived at their destination when Hyunjin pulled into the station sharply, jolting Heejin out of the sleep she fell into. She cursed and shook her fist, making Yeji laugh. They hopped out as soon as Hyunjin finished parking her car before entering the station. Inside, it was bustling with everyone working at their desks and walking with piles of paper in their hands. But when the newly arrived detectives and Yeji arrived, most of them stopped to see who had just entered, only to be mildly surprised at the newcomer. Yeji ducked behind Heejin, who blushed and shyly smiled at everyone staring.

Hyunjin, on the other hand, made her way to the all food laid out on their captain’s large desk, grinning like the Cheshire Cat when she got her hands on bread, batting away Sooyoung’s reaching hand. Heejin rolled her eyes at her partner’s antics while Yeji chuckled, before grabbing her own sandwich that Heejin offered. A small blonde girl in a police jacket a few sizes too big walked over to Hyunjin and reached for the bread in her hands as well, but didn’t get batted away. Hyunjin grumbled before handing over a sizable chunk.

“Tiny gremlins need to food to grow after all.” Hyunjin teased with a little smirk, which was enough to tick Chaewon off before she promptly reeling her foot back before kicking the detective hard in the shins, causing her to groan loudly in pain and choke on her bread. 

“So how was the hospital?” The blonde spoke up, oddly missing her friends even though she saw them a day ago. 

“Eh it was alright, just celebrated Saerom-unnie’s birthday.” Heejin filled in while giggling at her partner sitting on the ground while clutching her injured shin. 

“Oooh her! She’s on a date with Haseul at the new restaurant in Gangnam, right?” Yeojin inquired, which earned a knowing from Sooyoung and laughters from both Chaewon and Heejin. 

“I guess so. Speaking of which, they’ve never actually went on a date, huh?” The others could only shrug at Heejin’s comment, feeling unsure of their captains’ love life. 

“Anywho, this way, Yeji.” Hyunjin carefully got up from the ground and limped towards the desk where she and Heejin had occupied since their first day of being partners. But once she got there, the desks were unknowingly messy.

“Gee, this sure is cozy.” The firefighter playfully teased as Heejin turned tomato, embarrassed for inviting her guest with a not-so-welcoming work area. Hyunjin chuckled nervously before hastily tidying up her desk. She wondered why it was so messy in the first place since she hasn’t been back in the station for a while. 

“There, that’s much better.” Hyunjin swiped all of the crumpled papers into the trash bin next to her desk before offering Yeji a chair. “Have a seat.” The firefighter sat in the middle before putting her leg over the other. 

“I haven’t been to a police station in a while.”

“Really? When did you visit one?”

“Oh, I went to Ryujin’s. Haven’t come back since…um…she kicked me.”

“…why?”

“I flirted with Chaeryeong.”

“Yeji, come on.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve learned my lesson.” She held her hands up defensively before crossing her arms again. Heejin was bewildered at this, surprised Yeji wasn’t aware of the last time some people had tried to hit on Chaeryeong and Ryujin didn’t let them live. “So, how’s the work here?”

“It’s pretty fun actually. Before all of this, my friends and I would often work together to solve criminal cases and help each other out. Though, recently there’s been a lot more crimes lately, so we’ve been quite busy these days.”

“Hm, that must be pretty harsh. You haven’t gotten rest until now?”

“Yeah…seems like it.” Hyunijn ponders on, thinking of the last time she actually got some peaceful night rest without being bothered and stressed while thinking about how the future may turn out. “The hospital feels like a second home to me.”

“Well you still have your home, right?”

“Sure, I guess. Jeon is staying there with me now because of that brawl we told you about. Between us and Yena.”

“Didn’t you tell me that was a month ago? They should’ve renovated the place by now.”

“Yeah, uh…about that.” Heejin nervously added and rubbed her neck as Yeji’s attention was now on her. “The fee was too expensive.”

“Oooohh I see.” Yeji side eyed Hyujin for a split second and slightly smirked. “Surely you don’t have to worry about it too much.”

“Kim makes me sleep downstairs on the couch.” 

“You, of all people, are never allowed in my room.”

“You have a guest room!” The older detective frowned at this while Yeji raised an eyebrow. 

“You’re only allowed to use the restroom upstairs only, I make the rules.” Hyunjin crossed her arms and legs before leaning back on her seat, noting that she won’t take anymore excuses.

“Easy, Hyun. You both have gone through a lot already, so if you want to keep working together, might as well have bedrooms on the same floor at least. Plus, she’s paying rent with you now.” Yeji listed solid reasons and Heejin couldn’t be thankful enough. She couldn’t believe she left out that important information. Hyunjin sighed, feeling like an asshole. 

“Fine, you’re right. But no trespassing into my room.” 

“What’s wrong with your room?” Heejin half-teased and questioned with curiosity. 

“Very funny.” The younger detective lightly retaliated with sarcasm. “People always want to see my room for some reason. Nothing’s wrong with it, it’s just my safe place and I’d rather be alone there.”

“Come on, you don’t get lonely sometimes?” Yeji frowned, surprised Hyunjin could be so private. 

“Not really. I already have one person to worry about.”

“Why is it so hard for you to trust me?”

“What’s _ is _ there to trust you about?” Hyunjin muttered under her breath, still traumatized from that time she made the mistake of letting Heejin drive. “Did you forget how you drive? And caused Mia to lose her phone?”

_ Mia as in the goddess??? _ Yeji suddenly sat up straight upon hearing her name. 

“You’re still on about that?? It was only a one time thing!”

“That almost got us killed!”

“I’m a professional race car driver!!” Hyunjin was briefly silent for a moment before continuing again. 

“Maybe tell me that before getting behind the damn wheel!”

“I thought that, since we’re rivals, you would know what I’m good at!”

“Why would I need to—”

“OKAY. That’s enough, both of you.” Yeji broke up the sudden argument by putting her hand in front of them. “Geez, they weren’t kidding when they said you quarrel so much.”

“Whatever. I’m heading to the bathroom.” The other two merely watched Hyunjin walk away and disappear into the hallway where the bathroom was located. Sighing, Yeji stood up and decided to follow her friend. 

“I’ll be back.” And of course, she gave Heejin a quick wink, so which she blushed a little before nodding as the firefighter walked into the same direction Hyunjin went.

By the time she got inside, Hyunjin was already sitting on the counter by the sink, arms crossed as her head rested on the wall. She was merely tired and stressed about everything, the silly argument only adding more fuel to the fire. Yeji raised an eyebrow and slightly shook her head at the sight. She didn’t realize how stressful this was, but the whole situation was clearly taking a toll on Hyunjin. Yeji approached the girl until she got close enough to take a seat on the counter next to her. 

“Hey.” The younger girl didn’t have to look to see and know who it was.

“Hi.”

“I know a sad Hyun when I see one. Wanna talk about it?”

“Should I be flattered?” Hyunjin smiled a tiny bit, which made Yeji chuckle.

“In all seriousness though. What’s got you so down?” The girl in question took a deep breath and exhaled. 

“All of these missions that I’ve been investigating lately…it’s to search for someone very important to me.”

“Oh, who is it?”

“…Son Hyejoo.” The name was almost whispered, breaking her heart from even saying it. Yeji became even more curious. 

“Hm. Close friend? Or?” Hyunjin thought about it thoroughly, trying to come up with ways to make a good explanation. 

“It’s quite complicated, honestly. When you left the academy, it was just me in the dorm. Until one day, she was assigned my new roommate shortly after. And you know, the rest is sort of history. We instantly clicked or something…she reminded me of you a lot. Pretty soon, we were like best friends. We graduated together and worked in the same force after a few years. But then, she suddenly disappeared while on some mission. Never told me or anyone what it was and she was never seen again after that night. And…no one has heard from her since. It’s already been two hellish years.”

“God, Hyunjin…I’m so sorry you went through that…I-I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s fine. But thank you for listening anyways.”

“Hey um, if you ever need my help or anything, just—”

“Yeji, Yeji, don’t worry, I’m grateful for the offer, really. You’ve done enough for me.”

“Hyun….”

“I just…I can’t lose another best friend.”

“Hey. Don’t talk like that, you haven’t lost anyone. And I’m not leaving again. I’ve already made a promise to Nagyung.”

“You talked with her?”

“Yeah, surprising if you asked me.”

“Very. And um…you’re fine with her dating Chaeyoung?”

“Of course! I mean, I’m kinda hanging out with someone else already.”

“Hm, alright.” Hyunjin leaned her head back against the wall, until something clicked in her head. “Wait a minute, was Nagyung the one who suddenly shouted ‘kiss’ that night?” 

“W-what? No? I-I didn’t hear anything. You were probably just imagining things.”

“Ugh, you’re probably right. Stress has been killing me.”

“And speaking of stress, you should go home and sleep if it helps.”

“Trust me, I’ve been planning to do so all day.” This made Yeji lightly chuckle before placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“You’ll get through it, Hyun. You’re very strong.

“…thanks. A lot, honestly. I might’ve needed this kind of talk than I expected.”

“Not surprised. Everyone needs it every once in a while. What do you say about going home and relax?”

“Let’s get out of here _ now _.” 

They both giggled at this and hopped off the counter together, exiting the bathroom so they can finally head home. Hyunjin couldn’t wait to crash onto her bed again, it’s been a while since she actually had a good night’s sleep. As they walked out, Heejin and Chaewon were socializing near the blonde’s desk, laughing about something. As Yeji and Hyunjin got closer, however, the younger quickly realized what they were talking about. And she had never wanted to tackle Heejin so much before. 

“Oh my gosh, no way! How is that even possible?” Chaewon had a bewildered expression on her face and then Heejin continued speaking. 

“I’m serious. They got so scared of her barking that they ran away, isn’t that crazy?”

“Never would’ve believed it’d be Hyunjin who was barking though. I thought someone brought in a dog and started chasing everyone out with it.”

“Kim’s many things but didn’t think she’d also be a furry—”

“AHEM!” Hyunjin quickly interrupted their conversation and gained both of their attentions to her. Heejin was surprised nonetheless, while both Chaewon and Yeji tried their best to hold in their laughter and get their shit together. “I’m leaving now so I can sleep. If you want a ride, _ Jeon _,” She put some emphasis with anger. “Call a taxi.” 

Just as Hyunjin was about to head out, Yeji was quick to grab her wrist, which made the younger detective look at her with confusion. “I don’t think so, Hyun. Remember what I said.” Oh right. Heejin pays the rent with her. 

“Ugh, fine. Hurry up, will ya? I’m close to falling asleep.”

“Cool it, Kim. The night is still young.” As if it wouldn’t age in the next couple of hours. Hyunjin sighed and lightly grumbled before reluctantly taking a seat next to Chaewon. 

“Anywho.” Yeji directly across from Chaewon. “What’s a princess like you doing out here?” The firefighter smirked and looked endearingly at the blonde, who was nothing more than shook.

“Yeji, not the time—” Hyunjin was about to tell Yeji to stop this instance, but Chaewon already beat her to it. 

“I-I…who are you?”

“My name is Hwang Yeji, your honor.” 

“Oh uh…nice to meet you. I’m Chaewon.” 

“Cute name for a cute girl.” Heejin and Hyunjin gave each other a short glance before looking between their friends again. It was incredibly awkward and they had no idea what to do. But to their surprise, Chaewon started giggling at Yeji flirting with her, well aware she was doing so.

“As much as I’m flattered, I’m already with someone else. But, you do look good yourself, Hwang Yeji.”

“Ah, my apologies.” The firefighter was quick to back off, much to the two detectives’ relief. However, it didn’t end there. “Who are you with? If I may ask?” Maybe Heejin and Hyunjin panicked a little too much, but they really felt like beating Yeji up on the spot. Luckily enough, Chaewon wasn’t too fazed by the question, though still felt down by it. She knew Yeji didn’t mean any harmful intentions by asking something like that.

“She’s Son Hyejoo….”

_ Oh. _

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t—” 

“No no, it’s fine, don’t worry about it. We’re all wondering where she could be right now. She especially has a lot of explaining to do once we find her.” Heejin, Hyunjin, and Yeji all sighed in relief that Chaewon didn’t get sad or angry. Instead, they were happy that she was comfortable enough to talk about Hyejoo. Or so they thought. 

“Knowing Hyejoo, she’s really strong.” Heejin reached out to hold the blonde’s hand. “I’m sure she’s alright.” 

As they continued talking, sitting about 10 feet away was Yuqi, who was busy navigating through a technical system in her computer to fix something in her cameras. After that fall from the building during their horrible time in Daegu, Yuqi’s Go-Pro recorders broke upon landing in the stack of hays, so now she thought it was finally time to fix them. It took a lot of therapy to get herself back on track in both general and work life. Yuqi was thankful for Haseul in assisting with the fees for each session, but she swore that she would never step foot in Daegu ever again, no matter what. While she was fixing the wires, Yuqi’s ears perked up when she heard her friends talking about Hyejoo, someone she’s never met before. She had always been curious as to who exactly the younger girl was and what she was like as a person. 

But after hearing about her disappearing for almost more than 2 years, Yuqi couldn’t help but think whether or not Hyejoo was still alive after all this time. The technician felt that it was wrong to think that because she knew her friends deeply cared about Hyejoo with the way they describe her, but curiosity got the best of Yuqi. She turned to her left where her friend, another technician of their station, was currently busy working on the computer to whisper.

“Hey, Shuhua.”

“What, Yuqi?” Eyes still concentrating on the monitor as she looked through some CCTV footages from Seoul High School while wearing headphones. It was a hefty job assigned to her by Haseul, but being skilled enough already, Shuhua was determined to find anything else that was suspicious.

“Have you known Hyejoo?”

“Uuuhh sure? We’ve talked once during some criminal case, but that was it.”

“You have?! How come you’ve never told me?”

“Why?”

“Because I’m curious. I wanna know more about her.”

“You might wanna think about that. We don’t know her as much as everyone else so it shouldn’t be any of our business.” 

“Oh. Well, I guess but she seems like a really cool person. Wouldn’t you get really curious when your friends talk about how amazing she is when you’ve never met her? Come on, it can’t just be me.” 

Sighing, Shuhua removed her headphones to look at Yuqi’s interested eyes and raised a brow at the sight. “Which is exactly why it’s not our business. Now if you would let me continue my work, that would be nice.” The younger girl stated before putting her headphones back on and concentrated on the footages once again. 

“I’m just saying, I mean. She’s been gone for two whole years, so do you think she’s still alive?” Yuqi questioned curiously as Shuhua’s eyes widened and averted her attention towards the tech geek, who responded with a ‘what?’ look. And before they both realized it, the entire room suddenly became silent and all eyes were on them.

Shortly afterwards, Yuqi ended up profusely apologizing to Chaewon while Sooyoung and Vivi scolded her for irrationally asking such a question without thinking of the consequences. Shuhua was standing behind the older tech and facepalmed herself as Yuqi was being lectured over and over again. Chaewon, on the other hand, suddenly burst into tears as Yeji, Hyunjin, Heejin, Yeojin and Jiwoo were quick to comfort her. The blonde was embracing her small friend and cried in her shoulder as the rest gave warm pats on her back and head. After a few minutes of calming down, Chaewon wanted to leave and go home. Both Hyunjin and Heejin decided to lead her out of the station and towards the younger detective’s car, followed closely behind by Yeji, who decided to tag along. The ride back was Heejin hugging Chaewon the whole time as the firefighter sat in the passenger seat, occasionally looking in the rear view mirror to make she was ok. 

Hyunjin tried to get to their destination as quickly, but safely as she could. By the time she was nearing an apartment complex, Chaewon immediately told her to go inside, confusing everyone in the car. But Hyunjin did so anyways, not wanting to question and upset the younger girl. They pulled up to a familiar set of buildings, the guard at the gate eyeing them suspiciously until she recognized the blonde and beckoned them through. As soon as Hyunjin parked, Chaewon was the first to come out as Heejin and the other two hastily followed her. Hyunjin quickly noticed, as they went up a flight of stairs to the third floor, that Chaewon was holding a single, gold key in her hand. They were about to ask where she was going, until she suddenly stopped in front of a door. Only then, Heejin finally noticed what kind of apartment complex they were in as all of them stood before Hyejoo’s home, the door saying “⅖”. It had been empty for 2 years and the only one who has been inside was Chaewon, still paying rent for the empty apartment and keeping it clean in hopes her beloved would return one day. 

“…you guys can leave now…I’m going in.” The blonde emotionlessly informed them before taking a step inside, only to be quickly stopped by Heejin. 

“Wonnie, wait.” She stopped moving as the older held her wrist firmly, though she wasn’t facing Heejin. “We’re going inside with you. I can’t let you be alone right now.”

Chaewon sighed softly, still not looking at her friend. She wordlessly grabbed onto the detective’s hand and led her inside, which noted both Hyunjin and Yeji to follow them. Hyunjin took a deep breath as she stepped into her old friend’s apartment, which surprisingly looked like it hadn’t been abandoned for two years. Of course…Chaewon had been taking care of it. Her heart continued aching as she closed the door behind her.

* * *

The living room was just like how Hyunjin and Heejin remembered; Hyejoo’s gaming console, her fancy board game table, the large flat screen TV, and her huge, navy blue couch. All of the games she ever owned were neatly filed under the countertop the television was on. Chaewon was quick to enter Hyejoo’s bedroom because she wanted to be alone for a bit as the others didn’t notice, too busy practically touring the vacant place. Once inside the bedroom, the blonde immediately laid down on Hyejoo’s mattress before cuddling with a wolf plushie. 

Out in the living room, Hyunjin took a seat on the couch and gazed around, viewing all of the photos that Hyejoo took while hanging out with her friends. They were hung neatly in rows on the wall as a wire of fairy lights illuminated the images below it. On the lampside by the armrest of the couch, she found a frame of herself and Hyejoo goofing around in the park, holding ice creams to their mouths and making silly faces, which immediately made her chuckle. It was quite a fond memory if Hyunjin remembered correctly, she and Hyejoo had teased a large husky by growling in its face and poking at its legs for fun, until it finally snapped before chasing them around the park for what felt like hours. 

If the younger girl were here right now, Hyunjin likely would’ve scolded Hyejoo for convincng her to piss off the husky, but in the end, them having fun was worth it. Even though Hyunjin was easily discovered hiding in the bushes because the husky somehow had her scent. Hyejoo wouldn’t stop laughing at the scratch mark on her leg for days. Thinking about now, Hyunjin still felt devastated about that fateful day, when she and Hyejoo were supposed to hang out at the park and maybe play with the husky again, just like they’d planned a day before the news of her sudden disappearance the previous night. Hyunjin vividly remembered breaking down upon hearing about it, as she was already traumatized when Yeji left. 

Hell, she couldn’t blame Yeji herself, or anyone really, but the news struck Hyunjin too hard. That same night, she had wandered around the streets and mindlessly searched for her friend. Saerom and the other girls found her asleep in the park where she passed out from exhaustion. The detective immediately shook her head from the memory before placing her elbow on her knee as she leaned down, forehead resting in her palm. Hyunjin sighed while trying to get the nightmare away from her mind, constantly replaying every time she tried to imagine something else. 

Meanwhile, Heejin was in the hallway and gazed around at the walls of framed pictures around her. She smiled and occasionally chuckled whenever she discovered a picture of herself and Hyejoo with the rest of their friends hanging out in the arcade, which was their usual place to relieve stress and just get excited to see who could score the highest in the Punch King game. The rounds usually ended with Hyejoo and Sooyoung competing against each other, which always left the others cracking up because the insults they would throw at each other were so ridiculous. Heejin then stumbled upon a frame near the end of the hallway, which made her chuckle once again. It was during Hyejoo’s birthday when she gifted the younger girl new red boxing gloves as a present and was happy to see her use them whenever they would practice their combat skills at the gym. There was one time when Heejin and Hyejoo decided to do a quick match, which ended with the older girl knocked out on the floor when Hyejoo landed a hard punch to her face. Heejin swore she nearly fell out of the rink and may have slightly regretted buying her those gloves, but Hyejoo was happy regardless, so she could care less.

But after a few months or so, Hyejoo didn’t wear the gloves again and Heejin still had no idea why to this day. It’d still set an odd feeling for the detective since she knew how much Hyejoo had cherished those gloves, unless she gave it away to someone in her family, though it wouldn’t make sense since the younger girl rarely ever mentioned them. Heejin initially thought maybe Chaewon would have them, but when she asked the blonde, she received a head shake for an answer. Therefore, it was a great mystery that Heejin wonders if she’ll ever find out, or maybe even solve when all of this was over. She then thought about the memory again, how Hyejoo’s eyes beamed immediately upon seeing the red boxing gloves when she finished unwrapping the present and opened it. Heejin couldn’t help but miss her smile, something she really wished she could see again. Then her mind played back on the day when she on a mission with Mia, who was assisting in interrogating a suspect who was involved in some crime that Heejin couldn’t put her finger on. 

But it was the afternoon when she and Mia were nearly done with their incompetent suspect, who wasn’t willing to answer any of their questions. They were beyond frustrated and Heejin nearly leaped over the table to break the idiot’s nose, so if Mia weren’t there to calm her down, she would’ve been the one arrested instead. The two had finally decided to call it a day and the suspect was taken away. As they were busy packing up while reminiscing about their events that day, Haseul suddenly burst through the door and told them they needed to go now, because it was an emergency. Then the rest of the day went by very quick, almost too quick. It was basically a hellish 8 months of searching for Hyejoo on every corner of the country, until there weren’t anymore solutions left. Heejin was stuck in an endless loop and the pain was unbearable. Pulling all-nighters and working long hours nonstop for any single clues that could possibly lead her to Hyejoo. But nothing worked. No matter how hard she tried, every time she would think she found a solution, it was always a dead end. 

Even now, Heejin still feels like she hasn’t tried hard enough. And that’s what pains her the most. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair before entering the kitchen. Heejin opened the fridge and found some recently bought soda inside, assuming Chaewon purchased them, to make it seem like Hyejoo’s house was still alive. She shrugged before grabbing one and opened it. Afterwards, Heejin entered the living room where Hyunjin was. The younger detective was still resting her head in her palm as the other took a seat next to her. Sighing again, Heejin set her soda can down before turning on the TV. The Disney channel made her softly smile since she and Hyejoo would always binge watch shows with their other friends from their nostalgic past. There was even a debate between the group about whether Disney or Nickelodeon was better. After a little while, Yeji took a seat next to Heejin, which brought her out of her daze. 

“This place is very uh, nerdy.” The firefighter chuckled. “I like it.” 

“Yeah…she’s quite a gamer.”

“Figured. Saw a lot of Bloodborne and League of Legends posters. Can’t say I blame her.”

“So you play games, too?”

“Yep. Only just recently though. One of my coworkers from the fire station is a hardcore gamer or something, so she would make me and the others play with her in a tag team.”

“Ah, I see. What games do you play?”

“I’ve been playing World War Z and The Last of Us these past few days. It made me wish I played games sooner.” Heejin giggled a little. 

“Don’t worry, you’re fairly young now. It’s never too late to get into games.”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m still trying to get ahold of that Nintendo Switch. Seems pretty neat.”

“Oh it is. A small friend of mine somehow got it on the day of its release. Can you believe that??”

“Damn, really? That’s insane. The lines to it were really long though.”

“Beats me. She really makes things her way sometimes.” 

Of course, Heejin was talking about none other than Yeojin. The little gremlin was brief when explaining how she got the Nintendo Switch in just a few hours after the release date, which concerned many of her friends in the station. Heejin figured Yeojin might’ve stolen it, but then she showed her receipt, which practically shocked everyone, especially Haseul. It wasn’t until the next day, Heejin eavesdropped Yeojin boasting to her school friends about successfully saving money together to get Switch and sneakily cutting through the line. Honestly, Heejin wasn’t even surprised then, so she’s not surprised now. Anything Yeojin does, it’s always mischievous. The detective chuckled at the good memories playing in her head before leaning back to focus on the cartoon show playing on the TV. On the other hand, Yeji also leaned back before gazing around the decorative house. That was when she noticed a coat hanging on the rack by the entrance to the apartment. 

She found it very familiar because she knew it anywhere; it was the old jacket that Hyejoo wore when she first started attending the academy as a freshman. And there were some red paint splotches on the sleeve and side of the coat, Yeji gasped before running a finger along them. Every pupil classmen were given that coat upon entering for their first year. Just to be clear she wasn’t seeing things, she turned it to look at the emblem on the back and sure enough, it was definitely from the academy. Yeji had wanted to throw hers away because of the memories it held but someone had convinced her to keep it. Upon seeing the coat, she immediately remembered the month after she left the academy.

* * *

_ In a quiet neighborhood, Yeji was poking at mud with a stick while sitting on a little stool, hugging her knees while her chin rested on them. Her parents were busy at work, leaving the youngin lonely at home to do whatever. It hadn’t been long ever since things escalated to hell. These days were more empty than ever. She stood up and gazed at the punching bag that was hanging from her tree. Yeji hadn’t practiced her martial arts skills in a while, so she punched it once. Then again and again. _

_ Soon, she was breathing heavily before landing another two quick jabs on the trunk of the tree in her backyard, the boxing bag previously attached to a prominent branch lying torn on the dirt. Yeji pulled back before landing a hook and cracking off a piece of the dead wood. Pain flared through her bandaged knuckles but she wasn’t finished. Taking a step back, she quickly lowered herself onto one arm before delivering her killing blow: a blow she used to win many matches in academy… _

  
  


_ … _ ** _the academy._ **

  
  


_ There was a sudden burst of anger and contempt that overcame her as Yeji used the momentum gathered to sweep her would-be opponent’s legs out from under them before hopping to her feet to stare at her fallen imaginary opponent. Growling discontentedly, she shrugged the coat given to her by the academy off and threw it to the dirt before curb stomping it. She didn’t know why she wore it anymore. It only hurt. Having calmed down a bit, Yeji glanced at the stick she’d previously used to play with the mud while sitting in her little stool. She then looked over at her fence, wondering how far she could throw her stick and possibly hit something. _

_ After a little thinking, she snapped the large stick in half with her knee before throwing the longer end with as much as strength possible, sending the branch flying at an astounding height and distance. She was even surprised herself, sometimes forgetting how strong she was. The girl tossed the smaller end of the stick in the mud and made her way to the entrance of her house, sighing after the tiring practice. Yeji decided to go back into her house for a warm shower. But before she started walking, there was slow clapping that echoed throughout her backyard. Yeji whipped around and stood in a defensive position immediately, fists raised and ready to fight. _

_ There stood a well-dressed, woman and an innocent looking young girl. She was wearing a sleek black trench coat with diamonds around her neck and blond hair the sunlight seemed to glint off of. Her boots were quite noticeable with their heels, as well as necklaces and earrings that made her shine even more. On the other hand, the girl standing next to the woman wore a gray hoodie, had dark brown hair, a skirt that looked like apart of a school uniform, wore long socks that reached her knee and lastly, purple converse shoes. _

_ “Remarkable, absolutely remarkable, Hwang Yeji.” She had no idea who this woman was or why she currently standing in her yard. Yeji peeked over her shoulders to see that her wooden gate was open, so she assumed the woman somehow unlocked it from the inside. _

_ “Who the hell are you and why are you on my property?” She still had her fists raised, on alert at all costs. _

_ “You learned that in the academy, right? Stay on guard, no matter what? _ ** _Never let them hit you first_ ** _ ?” _

_ At this point, Yeji was beyond creeped by this. How could this woman know what she learned. And especially assumed that she came from that wretched place. She then looked over at the girl standing next to the blonde. Yeji slightly arched an eyebrow when she saw her smiling. She couldn't help but feel that there was something strange about the girl, but Yeji couldn't point it out. _

_ “L-look. I don’t know who you are. So no funny business, or I’ll—” _

_ “Beat the shit out of me?” The woman smirked when Yeji’s faced turned from fierce to surprised within a few seconds after her question. “I know exactly what kind of pain you’re going through, Yeji. I only want to help you. I was in the exact same place as you. They treated you so unfairly, didn’t they?” The woman confidently took steps forward. Yeji grew nervous, though stayed rooted and not moving an inch from her position. The young girl didn’t say anything back as she studied the stranger before her. _

_ “Who are you? And how do you know my name?” Yeji repeated her question before taking a slight step back. She would normally stand her ground and not let herself feel threatened like this, but something told her if she were as much as touch this woman she would be dead. _

_ “They sure messed up kicking you out. Even though you work so hard. Even though you’re so strong. I wouldn’t do that.” The woman ignored multitude of questions again. _

_ “You…you wouldn’t? I don’t understand…” She stood frozen in place, her fists still unconsciously raised. _

_ “That’s why I came all this way…was to see you in particular. _

_ “I’m not looking for any trouble…. _

_ "Neither am I. That lousy superintendent who expelled you from the academy should know better than to release someone so strong and capable. I guarantee you would’ve been a very amazing police officer.” The woman smirked again, which sent fearful chills down Yeji’s spine. For one, she was rarely intimidated, so whoever this woman was, the young girl had a gut feeling that she wasn’t here for good intentions. “I heard you’re a strong fighter and a smart girl.” _

_ “What do you want?” She tried to sound confident. _

_“It’s not exactly what I want, Hwang Yeji. It’s what _**_you_** **_deserve_**_. And like I said, you're capable and valiant, Yeji. You yourself should know that, too. So, I have a great offer for you, one that barely anyone could turn down." Of course, the girl was hesitant for whatever this woman was proposing, but curiosity got the best of her, so she decided to listen. “I’m in charge of this extremely wealthy organization that I’d like you to be apart of. I’ve hired many talented and amazing people, just like you, Hwang Yeji.”_

_ “What kind of company is it?” _

_ “Consider it less of a company and more like a big team. _ ** _We _ ** _ work together. Many of my employees have made a considerably good living out my offer. Would you like to know more?” _

_ “U-um…yes.” _

_ The woman slightly smirked at her hesitation before continuing as she beckoned the other girl to come closer, which she complied obediently. Yeji flinched slightly when the girl reached for her hands. The stranger offered a small smile that reminded her of a muted sun. Hesitantly, Yeji allowed the girl to take them. The girl gently looked over the slightly bloody bandaged knuckles, tilting her head to observe the sides of her hands too. _

_ “All the little things you’ve ever wanted in your life; games, clothes, cuisines, luxury, money, power, and most importantly, freedom. Freedom from all the stress life can bring. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?” Yeji thought about this deeply. Maybe she could join whatever this organization this woman was in charge of. “And the most important part,” the woman continued, paying no mind to what the girl was doing. Yeji looked between the two strangers, “You’re helping combat the hidden evils of our society. What do you say?” _

_ “What’s the catch?” The question made her chuckle, having a mischievous glint in her eyes as the other girl withdrew her hands from Yeji. _

_ “That’s the thing, Yeji. There _ ** _are_ ** _ no risks. No catch. You’re free to do whatever you want, as long as you follow certain procedures, which are very easy and straightforward. What do you say?” The gray hoodie girl averted her attention from the blonde woman standing next to her before looking expectantly at the other. _

_ Yeji couldn’t say no to that. _

  
  


* * *

_ _

_ Graffiti was a common thing in alleyways, isolated areas, or maybe in the streets of small neighborhoods with less security residing nearby. Oftentimes, the portraits were usually small whenever people just wanted to be quick or were too lazy to even make anything. But on rare occasions, some would cover up an entire building with graffiti, which would result in heavy fines for those who were responsible. If they get caught. Yeji had found an alleyway near her house that lacked security cameras. She’d never spray painted before but she figured this wouldn’t be too hard. _

_ Yeji clenched and unclenched her fist to relieve some anxiety, still unused to the purple bandages on them that the girl had applied before she left (They’re actually bandages. She was just using cloth). She went along with it, though a little stunned by the whole situation. Finally deciding on what to paint on the wall, Yeji held a spray paint can and shook it before aiming at the brick wall in front of her, spraying away. She drew a whole red curve while standing on the same stool from her backyard. _

_ Yeji had looked in her garage to see if her parents any cans hidden somewhere. And luckily enough, she found her jackpot when she looked through the top of the shelves and found a box full of them. It also made her wonder why her parents kept these, but she shrugged before taking them and putting them to “good use” in an alleyway of her neighborhood. Good thing for her, there were just enough colors for the portrait she intended to draw, which was perfect. Next, Yeji used the orange can, then the yellow, green, blue, and purple. Shortly afterwards, a rainbow graffiti plastered proudly on the wall as Yeji huffed in pride, no pun intended. However, she wasn’t quite done yet, especially since there were still more spaces on the wall for her decorate on. So with that being said, Yeji continued spray painting some more, leaving her cans lying around everywhere as she littered the wall with bright colors. _

_ She was so absorbed giddily painting that she didn’t notice someone else nearing just around the corner and into the same alleyway as she was, until an audible sound of someone accidentally kicking her can while on their phone. Yeji immediately look towards the direction of where the noise came from, only to see another girl looking right at her with a phone in her hand. The new stranger arched an eyebrow before shifting her direction towards the heavily spray painted wall before instantly averting her attention back to Yeji. _

_ “You know that’s illegal, right?” The girl informed the other before pocketing her phone. _

_ “So? What are you gonna do about it?” _

_ “Report to the police.” She chuckled at Yeji’s somewhat irrational courage, eyeing the wall again. “Not gonna lie though, I’m impressed you pulled off something huge like this. Oh, and colorful bandages you got there.” The new stranger squinted at them. _

_ “…are you actually serious about reporting me to the cops?” _

_ “I’m _ ** _training_ ** _ to be one.” The girl showed off her jacket, which immediately alerted Yeji. She remembered that garment anywhere and planned to burn her own the moment she has time. “I will say, I’m quite easy going, but don’t think you can get out of this so easily.” _

_ “And I don’t think you know who you’re talking to. So scram before I knock you dead.” Yeji glared at the girl before her as she got off her stool and tossed her can behind. “I’m not afraid to fight you.” With gritted teeth, her fists clenched out of anger. _

_ “Jeez, it’s a bad thing to disrespect authorities, you know?” She slightly pouted at Yeji’s remarks, but still stood her ground. “I don’t think violence is necessary in this situation per-say. Wash it off and I’ll let you off the hook.” Stretching her arms above her head, she yawned. _

_ “‘Authorities’ my ass, rookie. Either keep your mouth shut and do what I tell you, or get a broken nose. Who are you to tell me what to do, huh?” _

_ “‘Rookie’?? Have you been to the academy before???” Now Yeji really hated this. She’s never been so uncomfortable and awkward in her life. _

_ “I don’t need to answer anything you ask.” _

_ “Well then you have to have a reason why you’re spraying painting the wall, right? Might lessen your punishment.” The girl approached closer to Yeji. “Or, as I said, you can simply clean this off so no one has to even know about this.” _

_ “…” _

_ Yeji didn’t feel the need to speak anymore. The stranger barely dodged a swing as she quickly backed away. It felt like the wind right across her face. She blinked as her eyes widened, still trying to process what just happened, until another fist came towards her, which she quickly ducked. Blinded by rage, Yeji then raised her leg up high, which immediately alerted the girl she was about to slam her foot down, so she quickly dodged the dangerous attack as well. Yeji unintentionally smashed her small stool to pieces, which caused her to lose balance a little as she hastily slapped the wall to keep herself on her feet. _

_ Shortly after, her palm felt slippery since the spray paint was still drying: now the surface of her hand was entirely purple. Now much angrier than before, Yeji didn’t hesitate to launch an onslaught of attacks, punching and kicking the stranger. She hoped to at least hit her once, but every time she aimed perfectly, it was always either evaded or blocked. Yeji was aiming to end the fight with one powerful hook, but the girl suddenly ducked and landed a jab to her stomach. Whoever this girl, she really had instinct to fight. _

_ Yeji cursed under her breath before attempting to attack again, sending punch after punch at her opponent only to have them skillfully blocked. She kept going at it. Jab. Hook. Cross. Another rain of jabs. All successfully blocked. The stranger, on the other hand, was surprisingly enjoying this fight as she clearly had a grin on her face. _

_ Did she think this was all a game? _

_ Yeji was a really strong and passionate fighter. She wouldn’t take this slander. The brawl continued for a while and soon, both of them were growing tired. There were some bruises and cuts here and there, but nothing too major. And luckily, there weren’t any broken bones. Yet. Thinking up a quick strategy, Yeji saw her cans lying and immediately thought of an idea. Picking one of them up, she threw it towards her opponent, who was fast enough to see it flying towards her at high speed as she deflected by slapping it. Glaring, Yeji picked up another can immediately after seeing the other soar away from her sight. She sprinted towards the stranger while predicting her attack. Yeji swiftly dodged a swing of a fist by leaning back and slid across the ground on her knees, not forgetting to use her spray can. Now there was a new red line on the side of her opponent’s jacket, but Yeji may have sprayed too much as the girl started coughing and waved her hand around. _

_ She blinked while trying to prevent the paint mist from being accidentally inhaled. By the time she opened her eyes, Yeji sprayed at her once more, which she instinctively held her arms over her face, the wrist area of her jacket now red. The girl stumbled backwards, but luckily didn’t lose her balance. Tossing her can away, Yeji quickly lowered herself onto one arm before delivering her finishing kick. But she found her leg immobilized and her opponent crouching. _

_ Huh? _

_ She turned to look at where her leg met her opponent before her eyes widened in shock. The girl had caught her leg in between her elbow and knee. She had caught her finishing blow. _

_ “Impossible.” Yeji breathed out and the girl grinned before releasing her hold. _

_ “If I brought my elbow down too hard, I would have broken your leg. It’d be dangerous to use that move on opponents who know how to counter it.” The girl thought if she’d release Yeji’s leg, then the fight would finally be over. But boy, was she wrong. _

_ Shortly afterwards, Yeji charged at her again, but she quickly, and subtly, tripped her while sticking a foot out, causing her to stumble forward. This only aggravated Yeji even more as she swiftly turned around to punch her again. The stranger, like always, dodged the attack once more, but this time: she really saw Yeji’s almost inhuman strength. Anger practically blinded her when her fist met the wall, cracking the solid surface, though not too much, but enough to shock the stranger. Almost immediately, the pain seeped through and Yeji let out an audible whimper before kneeling. Instinctively, the rookie was quick to be at her side and barely caught Yeji in her arms. _

_ “Oh jesus, that was brutal. You should really be careful where you hit!” _

_ She scolded the injured girl, whose hand was now broken and bleeding. She carefully guided her up to her feet. The whole way during their excruciating walk, the girl constantly encouraged Yeji to continue and bare with the pain, trying her best to keep the delinquent standing. Yeji had her arm wrapped around her neck while the girl held her side. After about 5 minutes, they finally arrived at a hospital conveniently down the block and entered. _

_ “Jiho unnie!” The stranger called out to one of the nurses, Yeji assumed, which quickly alerted her when she saw the bloody knuckles. _

_ “Holy crap! What the hell happened to her, Hyejoo??” So that’s her name, Yeji thought to herself. _

_ “Not the time, it’s complicated. She needs emergency care.” _

_ That being said, the treatment lasted for hours as Hyejoo busied herself in the waiting room while watching NetFlix and playing games on her phone, the hospital’s PlayStation console, etc. Yeji had go through x-ray examinations, pain killers, disinfectants, and plenty more to fix up her broken hand. She was then under Jiho’s care, who, at the time, worked directly under the head doctor of the hospital. Yeji had asked her job and how she got it so early at a young age while still a senior in high school. _

_ “Trust me, it wasn’t that easy. I had to convince my mom that I could do it, but she was so worried about me being clumsy that it was almost impossible.” The younger chuckled as she and Jiho sat across from each other in a table, merely socializing after those rigid hours of treatment. _

_ “Parents, you know? Sometimes you really wish they actually understood you.” _

_ “Exactly! She already knows how much I’ve been studying to become a doctor, so why worry now?” _

_ “It IS irritating, but at least she cares.” _

_ “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it. I just hope it doesn’t become a problem later on. I’m nearly an adult now.” _

_ “Ah, senior life, huh? That means you have your driver’s license, right?” _

_ “Of course. Had it since sophomore year. You won’t believe how much my mom pressured the driving instructor to ensure I had the safety manuals down.” Yeji giggled as she could definitely imagine. _

_ “What’s the job like here, anyway?” _

_ “Eh, it’s manageable. Though I barely get to hang out with my friends these days since I’m so busy.” _

_ “Oh…me neither.” _

_ “You’re busy, too?” _

_ “Sure. I mean, we’re busy.” Yeji’s mood quickly simmered upon the mention of ‘friends’, especially since the memory was still fresh in her mind. _

_ “Aw, don’t get buggy about it. I always try to find some time with my friends, so I encourage you do as well.” Jiho patted the younger’s lap when her phone suddenly vibrated with a message. “Oh boy, speak of the devil.” The nurse showed her phone to Yeji, who immediately laughed when she saw her mom’s text message. _

_ _

_ “For christ’s sake, that was only 4 years ago.” Jiho frowned and pouted as she messaged her overbearing mother back. “By the way, you’re almost ready to leave now. And be sure to not use your hand too much.” _

_ “Oh alright. Did they call my parents?” _

_ “Yeah. For some reason Hyejoo told me to tell them that something just dropped on your hand, so, guess you’re off the hook, kid.” _

_ Yeji didn’t say anything back, only arched in confusion as to why a stranger would do that for her, but nonetheless, she was thankful regardless. Keeping Jiho’s advice in mind, Yeji walked out of the ward, with a cast now wrapped around her arm, and into the waiting room, where Hyejoo was nearly falling asleep on the couch. The older girl walked up to her and poked her shoulder, causing her to jerk awake. _

_ “Hey um…thanks for covering for me from my parents.” _

_ “Oh! No problem at all. And I must say, you really know how to fight. I know you broke your hand from it, but that wall punch was so cool.” Yeji lightly chuckled, and perhaps wincing slightly as she remembered the pain of it. _

_ “Yeah uh…sorry about charging at you earlier…I don’t know what’s gotten into me.” _

_ “Don’t worry about it! You’re a pretty good fighter yourself.” _

_ “Wait!” Hyejoo quickly grabbed onto her other wrist that wasn’t broken. “We still need to wash away that wall before the cops sees them. Also a quick fyi, the wall belongs to an old lady’s convenience store and she feeds the stray cats in that alleyway, so don’t give her a hard time, okay?” _

_ “I’ll do it, so if you would just—” _

_ “I’ll do it with you, I still feel really bad about, you know, your new cast.” _

_ Yeji sighed and contemplated a little bit. “If it makes you stop bothering me, fine.” _

_ “Yes!” Hyejoo silently celebrated. “I have some things I’d like to discuss, I know we just meant, but if you could please take the time out of your day.” _

_ “Why do you care so much anyway? We’re just strangers.” _

_ “We don’t have to be! I’m Hyejoo, what’s your name?” _

_ “Uh….” Yeji gazed around, feeling a little uneasy for some reason. “Hwang Yeji….” Hyejoo immediately caught the sudden sense of tension, but decided to ignore it for now. _

_ “Pleasure to finally know your name.” She smiled and shook her hand. “I’ll walk home with you.” _

_ Yeji decided to go with it since there was nothing else she wanted to say. With her arm in a cast, she walked with Hyejoo as the girl went on about her day, school life, video games, home life, friends, and her time currently in the academy. Yeji just listened to whatever Hyejoo talked about while mindlessly looking down at the ground and walking straight forward. From what her ears picked up, the younger girl was constantly talking about having a new girlfriend and she was planning about going on a date with her next week, if they were both free around then. Yeji was pleasantly surprised by this since she never expected Hyejoo to be in a relationship. As the younger continued, she went on about how they met and she fell in love at first sight, but her girlfriend had already been a relationship with her best friend, so that was a tough situation. _

_ Yeji continued listening in, though still unresponsive since she didn’t want to interrupt. Apparently, Hyejoo’s best friend suddenly disappeared one day without telling them why so they assumed she’d left on an urgent note and couldn’t notify them on time. Yeji couldn’t help but find that a little odd, wondering what kind of situation could have lead to that. But as much as she was curious, she thought it was none of her business so Yeji kept quiet as Hyejoo continued talking about the academy. The older girl brushed it off since she had nothing to do with the awful place anymore, which wasn’t until Hyejoo started talking about her roommate: Hyunjin. Yeji immediately looked at the younger girl with hardened eyes, which Hyejoo couldn’t read but was surprised by it, needless to say. _

_ “What?” Yeji quickly snapped out of her gaze and shook her head. _

_ “U-uh—nothing.” Without another word, she paced forward hastily as Hyejoo followed closely behind. _

_ The rookie didn’t want to ask as she felt like her questions would just be ignored. Shortly afterwards, they soon arrived at the same alleyway as before. But since Yeji needed to rest, as advised by Jiho, they both decided to clean it up tomorrow. And luckily, Hyejoo’s parents lived in the same neighborhood. They said their goodbyes for the day, promising to meet the next morning so they could clean the brick wall of spray paint. _

_   
  
  
_

* * *

_   
  
  
_

_ Water mixed in with the colors as it dripped down. Hyejoo held up the hose with its pressure on max, getting as much off as possible while Yeji stood by waiting with a bucket of soap in her free hand. After the water hose was turned off, they each grabbed a sponge to scrub off the dried paint. It took them an hour, but the effort was worth it since the brick wall didn't look like it'd even been spray painted on. However, the noticeable crack from Yeji's punch was still there. Hyejoo sighed in satisfaction, relieved that they were finally done getting the last bit of paint of the damn wall. She then looked over at Yeji, who stared blankly at it. Hyejoo frowned before speaking up. _

_ “Hey, how are you feeling?” _

_ “Oh. I’m fine. Just thinking about some things.” _

_ “I see. Well, now that we’re done cleaning this mess, I have something for you.” Yeji arched an eyebrow at the younger girl, thinking what more could she give her when she’s already done so much. “Here you go!” Hyejoo took out what seemed like red boxing gloves from her backpack and handed them to the older girl. _

_ “Why are you giving me these?” _

_ “Because I feel like you need them more than me. Can’t have another broken hand, you know?” Hyejoo chuckled as Yeji examined closely. “And they’re super helpful, trust me.” _

_ “Oh. Where’d you get these? I can buy one myself.” _

_ “No, it’s fine. Just keep them, I insist. Plus, it saves you money.” That was indeed a good point. “And a friend gave them to me on my birthday, but it’s no biggie.” _

_ “Your birthday?? I can’t have these, they’re yours.” Yeji tried handing them back, only for Hyejoo to back away. _

_ “They belong to you now. Besides, I can still use my old gloves anyways.” _

_ “Well…if you say so.” Yeji mumbled before examining the gloves again. “And sorry for spraying paint on your coat by the way.” _

_ “It’s alright, I think it looks cool. And you know the academy? That would explain why you fight so well.” _

_ “I actually got expelled for getting into a whole brawl with a friend. Now I don’t know what to do with my life, and that’s how I ended up here.” Yeji sighed heavily. _

_ “Oh…I’m sorry you had to go through that. It must be a horrible feeling.” _

_ “Well it’s too late to go back now.” _

_ Hyejoo decided to change the topic of discussion. "I've been wondering something. Why did you do this in the first place?" _

_ "……it's complicated." _

_ "Can you tell me about it?" _

_ "Well…uh." Yeji looked around again, acting somewhat anxious as she scanned their area. Hyejoo noticed this same behavior like back in the hospital. She felt that Yeji was hiding something for sure. "Can we discuss this somewhere private?" Yeji whispered loud enough for her to hear, to which she immediately agreed. _

_ "Alright." _

_   
  
  
_

* * *

_   
  
  
_

_ Hyejoo followed Yeji to her house and crossed through her yard before entering the front door. The older girl's parents warmly welcomed them inside as Yeji excused them to her room. Once inside, she quickly locked the door and made sure her window shut tight. Luckily it was already locked and Yeji closed the blinds. The room was temporarily dark until lights were turned on. Yeji offered Hyejoo to take a seat on her chair while she sat comfortably in her own bed. _

_ "I don't know if I should tell anyone this, but…." The young rookie listened intently for what Yeji was about to say next. "I was approached by this scary blonde lady who appeared in my backyard just after I finished practicing my punches. She looked really wealthy, if you know what I mean." _

_ "Wealthy like, clothing wise?" _

_ "Yeah, basically, and…she seemed charismatic and sharp with every word she said." _

_ "What'd she say?" Hyejoo continued frowning at these information, somehow already feeling that there might be a deeper meaning behind this. Her suspicions only continued rising. _

_ "She told me that she wanted me to be in this organization or company of hers because I was strong or capable, whatever. She just sounded so convincing because I was promised that we'd work together and you know, make a lot of money, I guess?" _

_ "Uuuuhhh that’s your first red flag already. I’d say it’s highly suspicious. Did she tell you what kind of company it was?" _

_ "Wellーno…." Hyejoo blinked at the answer, trying to figure out exactly why Yeji was so convinced by this mysterious woman. "But I'm serious! She promised all this luxury if I agreed that we get to work together. She made compliments after compliments, so I just…agreed. And now, um…I should've realized that after she told me to commit a crime so I can prove that I'm willing to do whatever it takes to ‘express myself'. That's why I spray painted the wall." _

_ “Ok, red flag number two. Is that all she said or is there more?” _

_ “Oh, she mentioned her organization was fighting the evils of our society.” _

_ “Whoa, red flag number three. Did she tell you what kind of ‘evils’ there are in society?” _

_ “No….” Yeji felt quite dumb now that she thought that this situation could’ve been handled alternatively. _

_ "Aaand red flag number four.” Hyejoo counted with her fingers and held them up. “Honestly, it feels like she wants you to work _ ** _ for_ ** _ her. If she's that persistent enough, then she's planning something for sure. I have a gut feeling that it's not good. So, whatever you do, don't join this organization, ok?" _

_ "I'll…I'll try. Butー" _

_ "But nothing. This 'luxury' being promised is obviously going to be worth some causes, good or bad, but most likely bad, I'm assuming. You can definitely be something else. There's plenty of opportunities out there." _

_ "Well if you say so.” _

_ “Was there anything else strange?” _

_ “I don’t think so.” But Yeji forgot one other important information. “Wait no! There was this girl, too. She was just there with the woman.” _

_ “Can you describe her?” _

_ “Uuuhhh…oh, she had a gray hoodie, a black skirt, knee-high socks and purple converse.” Hyejoo’s eyes widened at this and suddenly stood up, startling the older girl. _

_ “Purple converse?? GRAY HOODIE?” _

_ “Y-yeah? Why are you so surprised?” _

_ “Oh my god….” She paced back and forth at this new information, thinking deeply and thoughtfully about who this girl might be. _

_   
  
_

** _Could it be…?_ **

_   
  
_

_ “I think…I think I might know who that girl is. But I’m not entirely sure.” _

_ “What are you thinking?” Yeji was surprised and dumbfounded, wondering what Hyejoo could possibly suspect about a random girl. But it wasn’t just any random girl. _

_ “I-I don’t know, it’s just….” Hyejoo continued pacing around before stopping in her tracks and contemplated on how to proceed from here, her hand was on her chin. “She sounds very familiar. That woman…she might be holding her hostage.” _

_ Yeji raised both eyebrows. “You think so?? The girl seemed a little off, sort of.” _

_ “Well whatever the situation, I’m gonna get to the bottom of this for sure.” _

_ “Then what about that lady? What'll happen if she comes back?" _

_ "Just leave it to me. There's been a rumor going around about an underground mafia being built secretly somewhere. I have my suspicions that she's apart of it." _

_ "Ok." Yeji contemplated on what to say next, now that everything was resolved. "So um…what do you think I should be?" _

_ "What are you interested in doing?" _

_ "Uuhh…." _

_ "Or let me put it this way. What makes you happy?" _

_ "Oh, um…helping people." Yeji rubbed her neck shyly and looked down at the floor. Upon hearing this, Hyejoo couldn't help but smile at the answer. _

_ "I think you might be perfect for this." _

_   
  
  
_

* * *

_   
  
  
_

_ There have been numerous "workers wanted" posters nowadays, so it was no surprise a fire station was in need of employees. Yeji stood cautiously in front of it, holding the application that Hyejoo printed out for her yesterday. She gulped nervously while facing the dilemma of whether or not to enter and ask for a job. Or to just book it and pretend this never happened. But knowing Hyejoo went out of her way to help her apply for this, Yeji couldn't let this opportunity go to waste, which would've made their efforts pointless as well. Sighing, Yeji took little steps towards the entrance, until someone came up to her. _

_ "Hey, excuse me?" She swiftly turned around when her shoulder was tapped. There, Yeji saw another girl around her age. "Are you applying for the classes to become a firefighter, too?" _

_ "U-uh, yeah. Yeah, I am." _

_ "Oh perfect! Let's go inside together, my friend ditched me here after we walked all the way from the block. An asshole, you know what I mean?" The girl rolled her eyes, which made Yeji chuckle a little. "Anywho, I'm Shim Seungeun. What's your name?" _

_ "Hwang Yeji." _

_ "Nice to meet ya, Hwang Yeji.” They both shook hands and that was when Seungeun actually saw her cast. “Holy crap, what happened to your arm??” _

_ “I-it’s um…just some accident.” _

_ “Damn, that must’ve been one freak accident then. Try to be cautious next time. Wouldn’t want to be working as a firefighter with broken limbs now, do we? Follow me!" Seungeun enthusiastically held onto the older's wrist before carefully leading her into the fire station. Then the rest was history. _


	21. Our Memories Together

She merely stood there staring at the jacket before taking a closer look at it, only to find the exact same red spray paint marks from that same day she unknowingly fought with Hyejoo. It was her this whole time. She was even more surprised about this because she still kept those red boxing gloves that were given to her. And sure enough, Hyejoo wasn’t kidding when she said those gloves were really good at preventing her knuckles from breaking again. Yeji then took a look at hers, seeing that the scar was still there. It was like it’d been fresh just yesterday. 

“Holy shit.” She backed away from the coat, realizing she had known Hyejoo this whole time. 

She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about her after all these years and it’d been their mistake for not staying in contact after Yeji enrolled into the training classes at the fire station. Therefore: she wouldn’t be here without Hyejoo’s help. She placed a hand over her forehead, all the memories pouring over her a huge tsunami. 

_ No way…… _

They had lost contact as Hyejoo got busier with academy and Yeji got dedicated to becoming a firefighter. If she could see the young officer now, she would thank her over and over again. She moved to the living to sit down and process all her thoughts only to see Hyunjin sat with her head in her hands. Heejin was sitting next to her, looking just as worse. The detective gave her a small smile, which she did the same thing back. Yeji wasn’t sure whether or not she should tell her two friends about this, but when she looked over at them watching a film on the couch, she figured it wouldn’t be best to bother them with this new and rather shocking information.

Yeji was so lost in her thoughts after a while that she didn’t notice them watching some thriller movie on TV when they logged onto Hyunjin’s NetFlix account. It was amusing to see Heejin hiding behind her partner with both hands on her shoulders, which annoyed Hyunjin, needless to say. They were too engrossed in the movie to notice Yeji walking in. The firefighter let them be before clearing her throat before gazing around the room again and saw all of the pictures Hyejoo had put up. 

She saw many photos of the girl, along with Chaewon and Heejin, as well as everyone else from Haseul’s station. Walking by the couch again, Yeji was about to take a seat on it until she saw the framed picture of Hyunjin and Hyejoo on the lampside table. She picked it up and examined it, feeling a bit relieved her best friend found happiness even after she left. Yeji thought back to when she was talking with her friend about Hyejoo in the bathroom, how she suddenly disappeared and why. 

She, too, was curious how that even happened in the first place and what exactly Hyejoo was doing. Shortly afterwards, the memories from her flashback quickly came back again, reminding her of everything before the start of her firefighting career. Yeji remembered clearly that Hyejoo had told her she’d investigate the woman’s intentions of inviting her to work in this company that she supposedly owned. Yeji figured that the woman might be involved in Hyejoo’s disappearance as well. But all of the sudden it’d just dawned on her: she was the reason why Yeji wasn’t in Limbo right now.

Yeji had the most “done” face as she watched her friends from the fire station, along with Ryujin teasing her in the chat and cracking up whenever someone made a really funny joke. And of course, no thanks to Ryujin. Yeji knew the officer well enough that she wouldn’t spread it everywhere amongst their peers and higher ups. Pouting, she muted her group chat before switching off her phone before placing it in her pocket. She sighed and slumped onto the couch and rested her head on it. Yeji looked over to the sleeping detectives, wondering how they could be so tired. But then she noticed a certain blonde girl missing. Sighing once more, the firefighter stood up again to search where Chaewon could be. Yeji entered the same hallway Heejin was, viewing all the pictures that were hung up, but didn’t see the one where Hyejoo and the older detective were posing with the same red gloves that were given to her. Yeji saw a room with the door slightly opened and peeked inside to see if Chaewon was inside. And sure enough, Yeji saw the blonde looking fast asleep on the bed. 

Knowing Chaewon was safe and sound, she walked away to leave her alone, but not before shutting the door completely to give her privacy. However, the truth was that the blonde was still wide awake and had tears in her eyes as she still had some memories of Hyejoo. Even after two years, they stayed fresh as if she was still just yesterday. Chaewon wondered what Hyejoo was doing right now. 

-

_ It was a particularly snowy day for the young couple as they finally got home from a date night. All they wanted to do was just go home, turn the heater on, and cuddle in bed while binge watching Disney shows on TV. Chaewon had been talking to Hyejoo about moving in with her after graduating from the police academy, which the younger girl was more than happy upon hearing the suggestion and joyfully agreed. Their parents have already met each other one dinner event and both parties were luckily satisfied with how pleasant the young couple were.  _

_ They finally arrived home and immediately used the heater as they were shivering from snowy wind. Hyejoo locked the door behind her as Chaewon made her way into Hyejoo’s room and settled comfortably on her bed. It’d been a busy night as the couple visited a fast food restaurant that the blonde had been wanting to go to before taking a trip to the arcade. And luckily, there was an ice skating rink nearby so they decided to hang out there as well. They also had the luck to bump into Yeojin and her friends, whom of which they avoided being seen so the gremlin doesn’t bother them. Like the last time. _

_ The couple were about to soon call it a night, until they heard a knock on their door. Hyejoo checked through the peephole only to be pleasantly surprised that her friends Haseul, Sooyoung, Heejin, Jiwoo and Yeojin, were just outside and quickly opened the door. _

_ “Why are you all here?” _

_ “To have a small celebration of games!” Haseul held up some PS4 games they brought along, which made Hyejoo raise her eyebrows. _

_ “Whoa, those are the newest editions.” _

_ “Oh and, Yeojin told us you’d be home.” Heejin added her comment. Of course, she should have expected this.  _

_ “Anywho, we’re also here because we wanted to make Shuhua feel more welcomed!” _

_ Hyejoo then looked behind Haseul and saw the girl timidly waving a greeting. The young officer by the door smiled and returned the gesture before ushering them all inside, where they all said hi to Chaewon on the couch. The night went on as everyone took turns to play rounds against one another. The best players amongst the group, however, were Yeojin, Hyejoo, and Shuhua. Even though she’d been recently transferred overseas a month ago, the station was able to see just how skilled she was with technology when she easily hacked into systems, located numerous criminals through surveillance within a whole week, and fixed the maintenance within 30 minutes after a power outage.  _

_ After a while, the fun ended as quickly as it had started. Hyejoo got up from her comfortable position tucked into Chaewon’s side to turn off the TV and to throw away the empty soda cans scattered around the living room table. She loved her friends but they sure could make a mess sometimes. They had thrown a rather choatic mini party in Hyejoo’s apartment, and within hours of competitive yelling, gaming, and eating, everyone had either left or fallen asleep. She laid a blanket atop of Jiwoo before walking past Sooyoung and laying another blanket down atop of Heejin.  _

_ Overall, the whole day was quite busy with both work and free time, but nonetheless, it was a great evening anyways. Hyejoo glanced over her living room once again before scooping a half asleep Chaewon into her arms and carrying the smaller girl into her room. She kicked the door shut gently before laying her small girlfriend down on the bed as the heater in the apartment was back on. Hyejoo and Chaewon took turns showering and the blonde hopped into bed, waiting for the other to come cuddle with her in bed. The night was settling in as midnight was close and Hyejoo walked over to her desk, stretching as she was about to sit down. However, Chaewon quickly stopped her by letting out a whine before speaking up.  _

_ “No more work for today. Come cuddle.” _

_ Hyejoo laughed before obliging, slipping into bed beside her girlfriend. Chaewon quickly tucked herself into the younger’s side as Hyejoo brought the blanket over both of them. Afterwards, she moved her arm around Chaewon  _

_ “Hyejoo-ah~” _

_ “Yes?” Her voice was somewhat drowsy.  _

_ “I enjoyed today.” Chaewon wrapped her arm around the younger’s waist and rested her on her shoulder. Hyejoo immediately returned the embrace. “It was really fun.” _

_ “Yeah, we should do this more and give ourselves a break from all these criminal cases.” _

_ “I only like them when they’re fun.” Chaewon slightly pouted, which made Hyejoo chuckle. “But on a side note, Heejin always loses herself in these cases and works on them for days on end. Should we be worried?” _

_ “Believe me, Haseul and I tried talking her out of it and get her to rest, but you know, she’s Heejin. Always so stubborn.” _

_ “As expected…we should get some rest, too. My head has been in the computer 24/7 the past week trying to get some code for this case.” _

_ “We’ll all solve the mystery soon. Together.” Hyejoo smiled and giggled lightly, which made Chaewon do so as well. _

_ “So cheesy. What are you, Fred from Scooby Doo?”  _

_ “Ew gross, I’m not a man.”  _

_ “Of course not, you’re my girl.” _

_ “Who’s cheesy now?” The younger girl teased her back, which earned her a light slap on stomach.  _

_ “Oh that reminds me. What do you think about getting a haircut? Or maybe even your hair dyed?” _

_ “Hm…not quite sure. Would I look good in shorter hair than this?” _

_ “But, in my utmost opinion, you look way better with long hair.” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “I would probably…pass out because you’d be too beautiful with short hair.” Hyejoo burst in laughter and her head back.  _

_ “No~ don’t faint on me.” She calmed down before continuing. “Ideally, how short would you like my hair to be?” _

_ “Maybe…slightly above your shoulders?” _

_ “Oh, sounds good.” _

_ “Wait, are you actually going to do it??” _

_ “Sure! I’ve been curious about having short hair, too.” _

_ “Assaaa~ you’ll look so pretty and hot. The others will love it, too.”  _

_ “Haha yeah, I bet. Not psyched to be teased by Yeojin, though…” _

_ “Aw I’m sure she’ll love it, too.” _

_ “Eh, whatever. As long as we’re happy, then things will be fine.” Hyejoo gave a small peck on Chaewon’s forehead. _

_ “You missed~”  _

_ “Cute.” Hyejoo muttered under her breath. She was about to say something, but didn’t get to when Chaewon grabbed her by the collar and pulled her in for a kiss. The younger separated away first, leaving Chaewon dazed with a goofy smile. “I’ll definitely think about the short hair. Still not quite sure.” _

_ “You can take your time. And even if you don't, you still look really pretty anyways.” _

_ “I’m so flattered.”  _

_ Hyejoo giggled at the compliment, which she still hasn’t gotten used to since she was always shy. The younger then hooked an arm around Chaewon’s waist and easily brought her back into cuddling range. She squeaked in surprise before looking up to see the same mischievous smirk on Hyejoo’s face. Leaning down, she tilted her head and parted her lips as if she were about to kiss Chaewon again. The shorter girl closed her eyes, her heart jumping out of her chest, although she’s kissed Hyejoo so many times she should be used to it by now. The kiss didn’t come and the shorter girl’s eyes fluttered open to see Hyejoo with a wider smirk on her lips.  _

_ “Goodnight.” Afterwards, she turned on her side and away from Chaewon.  _

_ “SON HYEJOO!”  _

_ That accidentally startled some of their friends in the living room awake. _

_ - _

_ _

_ **Unknown City, 7:30PM** _

She found herself smiling at the memory, although the smile turned sad and then fell from her face. Chaewon had probably moved on by now. Two years later. Does she still love her?

Hyejoo was lying in her empty bed in the middle of a nearly vacant room with only a shelf, closet, and a small bathroom. There was also a single lamp hanging up on the ceiling, as well as a window on the far side of the room. The curtains were drawn as the lightbulb from the lamp illuminated everything. Hyejoo cuddled with a lavender jacket belonging to someone she’d been longing to come back to. It’s been a rough two years since she stayed here, yet it still didn’t feel like home and very much a prison instead. She felt some tears fall down from her eyes, sniffing as she hugged the jacket closer to her chest, feeling like it’ll disappear if she let it go for even a second. Hyejoo was planning on showering soon, but she felt too sad to get up, until there was soft knocking on her door. 

“Come in….” She murmured while still laying in her bed. The door opened to reveal a young woman in her early twenties, sighing when she saw Hyejoo moping on her mattress. 

“Hey.” She entered before closing the door behind her and took a seat on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit.”

“Hye—”

“What are you here for?”

“Just to check up on you.”

“I’m feeling great.” Obvious sarcasm. 

“Is there anything you want?” The young woman questioned with sincere concern. 

“…” The silent treatment made her sigh before lightly nodding, feeling like Hyejoo wanted to be alone and not be bothered again any time soon. Just as she was about to leave, a hand suddenly grabbed her wrist to get her attention. The young woman immediately turned around and saw Hyejoo’s tearful eyes. “Actually…can you get me scissors? I want to cut my hair…”

“Oh.” Both of her eyebrows raised, surprised by this sudden request. “Sure. Yeah.” She left momentarily for a few minutes before returning with the item Hyejoo wanted. However, the young woman’s instincts suddenly kicked in and became hesitant from handing her the scissors. Hyejoo noticed immediately before quickly reassuring her. 

“I’m not gonna do anything, I swear.”

“How can I trust you?”

“I haven’t tried to escape for the past few months….”

“…alright.” 

The young woman reluctantly lent the scissors before watching Hyejoo enter the bathroom, but she left the door open so then the woman could trust her. Gazing into the mirror, Hyejoo imagined the ideal length of her hair and carefully lined the scissors just slightly above her shoulders before snipping away. She made sure it was straight across and even, frowning with concentration. Lock after lock fell to the bathroom floor and counter. When her hair was the perfect length, she set the scissors. The process took about a few minutes until the last of strands were cut off, a pile of hair laying by her feet. 

Hyejoo stared at her own reflection in the mirror, surprised by how different it felt as she raked a hand through her hair. Not forgetting the other woman in her room, Hyejoo averted her attention back to her bed, only to see it empty and assumed that she’d already left. Afterwards, the bathroom floor was cleaned and all the hair was dumped into the trash. Hyejoo laid down on her bed once more and cuddle with lavender hoodie again before finally drifting off to sleep. She hoped this nightmare would end soon.


	22. Yerim

The news forecast didn’t expect such heavy rain tonight as streets were somewhat flooded, making it a bit difficult to navigate through the roads. It was pouring harshly and there were even traffic signs that had to be put down to warn drivers about being careful ahead. Many shops had to close since not a lot of people wanted to go buy stuff at night in the pouring rain. In the more isolated areas from the city, there lay a large cemetery field. At a particular, yet magnificent, tombstone stood a teenage girl holding bouquets of lilies and roses as she stared down at the name plastered on the grave.

_ **In loving memory of Song Hayoung** _

_ **** **1997-2017** _

_ “Don’t forget what’s most important! See the good in others.” — Hayoung, 2016 _

She didn’t feel the cold at all, even though she only had on a black jacket, a loose sweater inside, and jeans, the rain was nonexistent to her. The only thing in the world that mattered at the moment was the grave in front of her. She crouched down and ran her fingers along the engraved words. The young girl didn’t put her hood on, therefore, her hair was soaking wet from the heavy rain, but she couldn’t care less and just stood there while staring blankly at the name. But pretty soon, she started crying. Warm tears joined the rain drops going down her face.

“Unnie…I miss you…wish you were still here…a-and guiding me.” The girl sniffled and wiped her nose before clearing her throat. “…I’m not sure whether the life I’m living now is even good for me a-and I’m starting to have doubts, but…it seems like there’s no turning back now. I still can’t find Hyejoo…I want to see her and Chaewon again…I don’t know what to do.” She choked a little as her tears mixed in with the rain.

“I know if you were still here you would’ve found her already. I feel so stupid for leaving without telling them. But…I had to leave. I couldn’t…I couldn’t stay in that house any longer…without you.”

Her memories of Hayoung were still clear as day, ever since she’d passed away. It was hard for the girl to forget such an amazing, inspirational and outgoing mentor. She needed someone like Hayoung her whole life, so when the news of her death arose, everything basically became hell. The young girl grew depressed, stayed at home more often, and avoided any attention. Even now, it was still terrible. Life honestly couldn’t get worse. But the girl learned to pull through anyways, always holding Hayoung’s advice to heart.

-

_ The academy was incredibly crowded with high school kids flooding at the entrance of the building. Many graduated officers and captains tried to handle many of the kids by piling them into one group before giving them lectures about certain policies and procedures around campus. Choi Yerim and Son Hyejoo were amongst the new pupils who were planning to join the academy and become police officers together. The lines to the registration table were quite long after they had sent an application through the website, which was approved. And now, here they are, in the dreadful sunlight waiting for their turn in the line. _

_ “Man…if I’d known it would be this hot, I would’ve gone to the next orientation for tomorrow.” Yerim fanned herself with her hands while adjusting her cap. _

_ “Ugh same. It’s been half an hour already.” _

_ This made the older girl groan a little louder, which amused Hyejoo. But soon enough, they were both finally inside of the building so they took off their jackets since getting tanned wasn’t a worry anymore. After 20 minutes, the two friends reached the tables and signed their registration papers before being led away to join different groups who were being lectured by captains, as well as officers, about the policies and certain procedures around campus. Yerim was holding onto the raven’s hand tightly in the crowd, not wanting to lose her. _

_ “Hyejoo!” _

_ An unfamiliar voice called out, catching both of their attention as Hyejoo stood on her top toes to spot them in the crowd, her face lighting up with a grin when she did. Turning around, she told Yerim to stay put before leaving her side. But the brunette decided to wander around to see how large their field and gym was. And sure enough, it was _ ** _vast_ ** _ , which made Yerim gasp upon seeing it. She’d never seen such a spacious area before, so this was quite new to her. Yerim turned back to tell Hyejoo about it, thinking she’d already come back to her side, but saw nothing. She quickly looked around to find the younger girl in the crowd of students, thinking whether or not she left to join a lecture group without her. _

_ It was hard to stay put. The crowd pushed and pulled and some even shoved in their haste to get through. Panicking, she wandered into the crowd to search for her friend and didn’t even see the text message that Hyejoo had sent as her phone was on silent. Yerim didn’t want to unintentionally get everyone’s attention by shouting out the younger’s name, so she depended on her eyes to search instead. But this proved to be useless since many peers kept getting into her way and distracted Yerim from walking straight across. Soon afterwards, however, Yerim felt her heart racing suddenly, her mind went blank, as she began breathing heavily with a feared look on her face: a panic attack. _

_ Bursting her way through the crowd, Yerim sprinted to the nearest room and passed by many surprised and concerned looks from peers, who all glanced towards the direction she was running to. Yerim found the girl’s bathroom before quickly barging inside a stall and locking the door immediately. Shaking, she carefully sat on the closed toilet and rested her chin on her knees while hugging them. Yerim leaned against the wall and exhaled a breath of relief. Shortly after, however, there was a soft knocking on the door of her stall, startling her a little. On the other side, a calming, yet unrecognizable voice called out to her. _

_ “Hey, are you alright in there? I saw you running in here, just wanted to make sure you’re ok.” It was a female voice. Yerim didn’t respond, still resting her chin on her knees while thinking about whether or not she should let this woman inside. But she’d feel bad if the woman was left with no answers, so she tried her best to coherently answer. _

_ “F-fine….” Yerim could hear her sigh in relief before talking again. _

_ “I’ll be right here if you need me, alright? I can tell you had a panic attack.” _

_ The young girl wondered why this person cared so much about her when they just met. And especially when she hadn’t seen her face yet. Nonetheless, Yerim enjoyed her company and felt a little better knowing someone kind was outside. Soon afterwards, the woman began chatting about her day to try and get Yerim’s mind off of her panic attack, which thankfully worked since the younger girl started responding more. They were socializing for a good half an hour until the woman left momentarily and returned with a pastry donut. She told Yerim what she had and encouraged her to come out of her stall. _

_ “Take your time, sweetie.” Of course, Yerim was quite hesitant as she slowly stood up and unlocked the door. It was gently opened and Yerim peeked out, seeing the woman standing there while giving her a soft smile. “Yay~! You did it! Here, have this, you deserve it.” The younger girl accepted the donut gratefully and took a bit out of it, which had grape filling. Yerim smiled at how delicious it was, causing the woman to laugh along with her. “What’s your name?” _

_ “Yerim. Choi Yerim.” _

_ “I’m Song Hayoung, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” They both shook hands before the older continued. “I’m also a captain of Daegu Station!” _

_ With wide eyes, the girl questioned in shock. “You’re a captain?? But you seem really—” _

_ “Young?” Hayoung chuckled at Yerim’s surprised expression. “I get that a lot! I just graduated earlier than my peers and earned the title from the superintendent.” _

_ “Wow…that’s amazing!” _

_ “Haha, thanks. Say, why don’t I show you around? There’s still plenty of time left before the orientation ends.” _

_ “O-oh, sure…I’m just worried about something.” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “What is it?” _

_ “I was here with my best friend, but we got separated in the crowd.” _

_ “Do you have contacts with her in your phone?” Then it dawned onto Yerim that she had it in her pocket the whole time, which left her completely dumb founded. Hayoung noticed her blushing as red as a tomato from embarrassment and caused her to chuckle. _

_ “I-I do actually…I guess I was too panicked and didn’t notice.” _ _   
_ _   
_ _ “Aw, don’t worry, that’s completely normal! Why don’t you check right now?” And just as Yerim was about to open her friend’s message, the door to the bathroom suddenly opened and revealed Hyejoo in a tired state. She was panting heavily from all the running and searching for her. _

_ “Where…where—have you been??” _

_ “U-uh, in the bathroom.” _

_ “I texted you!” Hyejoo had her hands on her knees while trying to catch her breath, feeling the need to take a seat on the ground and rest. “I…looked everywhere.” There was panting in between the sentence as it was hard to form it with words on tired lungs. _

_ “Sorry…I didn’t see your message.” Yerim walked up to her younger friend and helped her stay balanced. “Oh geez, how long have you been running??” _

_ “For as long as…you were gone.” _

_ “Wow, for that long??” Hayoung suddenly spoke up, which got both of their attention on her. “You would certainly pass the fitness exam for that. Have you two signed up during the orientation?” They both nodded as a response and the captain smiled. “Perfect! Once your classes are settled, I might be your mentor.” _

_ “Omg!! That’d be nice! Hyejoo, she helped me with my panic attack.” _

_ “Ah, so your name is Hyejoo. Nice to meet you, I’m Song Hayoung.” _

_ “Oh, nice to meet you. Thanks for helping Yerim.” _

_ “No problem at all! I’m very happy to have been there. On a side note, even if you don’t get me as a mentor, there are also other amazing captains who are honestly better than me.” Hayoung commented sincerely, amusing both Yerim and Hyejoo as they giggled. “Why don’t I give you two a tour around here? Orientation ends in…an hour!” _

_ “Great! Let’s go, Hye.” _

_ From then on, Yerim looked up to Hayoung greatly and saw her as the role model she never knew she needed. The woman was basically an older sister to her and Hayoung seemed to agree. Whenever Yerim needed help with something, Hayoung was always willing to assist, whether it’d be with training, exercise, or homework from high school. Yerim found the captain to be extremely brave, smart, courageous, caring and everything else that was favorable, which inspired her to be just like Hayoung. She trained under the captain, who always encouraged her to push through difficult obstacles no matter what. Even though it was absolutely draining every time, Yerim was able to push through and become stronger. _

_ However, this was naturally put to the test as she was walking home one day. The young girl was merely minding her own business when she accidentally bumped into some girls. Yerim quickly turned around to apologize, but she was met with glares from all of them instead. _

_ “Hey!! Watch where you’re fucking going!” One of them shouted at her, causing her to flinch from fear. _

_ “I-I’m sorry—I didn’t—” _

_ “Sorry won’t do it, idiot.” Another interrupted Yerim. The girl standing in the middle looked like she was about to kill. _

_ “You think you’re just gonna get my clothes dirty and walk away like nothing?” _

_ The question seemed very threatening as Yerim slowly backed away, not knowing how else to diffuse the suddenly tense situation. This should’ve been more calm than anticipated. Other pedestrians saw what was going on and started crowding around them, which made Yerim panic. _

** _Oh no, not now…please… _ **

_ Of course it was inevitable, but Yerim felt it was too risky for that and couldn’t imagine what she could do. The three girls were taller than her and slowly marched up to Yerim, towering over her. She was basically their prey whom they were about to bury 25 feet under, which was disheartening to say the least. The middle girl, who seemed like the leader of their pack suddenly raised her fist, which promptly had Yerim stumbling to the ground as she cowered in fear. _

_ “Haha what a loser. Can’t fight, huh?” One of the other girls mocked her while she started tearing up on the ground. _

_ “This will be a lesson to everyone! Those who mess with us…will not live to see the next day.” _

_ The middle girl raised her leg up where Yerim can see how sharp her heel was, which only made her panic even more. Without any warning, the lethal heel suddenly aimed down towards her and Yerim instinctively yelped, turning away before protectively holding her arms up to protect her head. But then she felt nothing after a few seconds, which was odd because it should’ve hurt by now. The young school girl hesitantly opened her eyes, only to see someone’s back shadowing over her. Bystanders all murmured and pointed at the person, like they recognized them. _

_ “It’s Song Hayoung!” A man exclaimed from a distance, which made everyone cheer and applaud for her. _

_ The said captain, on the other hand, was not amused by this situation in the slightest bit. These random people were just willing to spectate and not do anything to save such a helpless girl like Yerim; which was what angered Hayoung the most. Her wrist was now pierced from the middle grunt’s heel as blood dripped to the ground. Hayoung was grateful she strolled around this area because she couldn't imagine what would’ve happened to Yerim if she hadn’t walked up to see why everyone was crowded in a circle. The captain had seen these three girls before and wasn’t surprised they were still acting like self-centered assholes. She couldn’t do anything about it at the time since she had no hard evidence of them supposedly hurting everything who stepped in their path. Nonetheless, Hayoung was going to end their dumb reign of terror now and forever, especially since Yerim was involved in this unecessary mess. _

_ “I’m gonna give you girls a fair warning. And if it's not taken seriously, don’t expect things will get easier for you.” _

_ “Who the hell do you think you’re talking to, punk??” _

_ “Yeah! We’re the richest people there ever was!” _

_ "I’m especially not the one with a crippled arm now, am I?” The middle girl spoke snarkily and pressed her heel against Hayoung’s wrist even more, hoping it’d hurt enough for her to keep her mouth shut. But it did the exact opposite. _

_ “Then it seems we must do this the hard way….” _

_ Within a blink of an eye, the captain swung her injured wrist violently to the side and shockingly tore the heel right off the sole of the grunt’s shoe. Everyone stood there stunned and wide eyed, but too distracted to see Hayoung standing up from her previous position and knocked one of the girls down with a hard punch to the face. She fell knocked out on the ground immediately while the other minion stood there wide eyed and the middle girl laid on the ground after losing her balance. _

_ The one girl still standing attempted to swing at Hayoung, but it was easily dodged when the captain ducked down and shoved her chin with a palm, causing her to fall backwards and drop on the concrete. Bystanders quickly stepped back as the girl fell in the spot they were previously standing in. She, too, was knocked out unconscious, leaving just the leader lying helpless on the ground. _

_ “H-hey, I—I mean no trouble—” _

_ “Oh do you, now? What’s the sudden switch up, hm?” _

_ “I’m s-sorry, I really am, p-please….” _

_ “Should’ve thought this before anyone got hurt. Not so tough now, are you?” _

_ Hayoung made the finishing blow and knocked the grunt unconscious with a fist to her face. Shortly afterwards, she was quickly arrived to Yerim’s side and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. However, Hayoung wasn’t expecting her to act so violently when the young girl suddenly screamed and hit her hand away. This took Hayoung by surprise as she tried to get Yerim to stop by holding her wrists, which proved quite difficult as the pain her own was starting to hurt. Everytime Hayoung would try to hold her the squirming girl still, she was always met a slap to the face. _

_ “Yerimmie—!” The captain tried one more time, attempting to get her to stop. That is, until she finally snapped and forcefully held onto Yerim’s shoulders with her harsh grips. _

_ “ _ ** _PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER!!_ ** _ ” _

_ Frowning, Hayoung shouted and shook the girl, which made everything silent. Her panting was audible enough for Yerim to hear as she stared at the woman in shock, like she’d just come back to reality. Within seconds, Yerim began crying and wrapped her tightly around Hayoung’s neck, feeling incredibly relieved to see her role model had come to the rescue. The younger girl cried into her shoulder and whimpered a little. _

_ “U-unnie….” Her voice was muffled and almost incoherent, but Hayoung was able to understand it. The captain sighed before instantly returning the embrace, patting her head. _

_ “Yerim…you’re ok. I promise.” _

_ Hayoung stood and carried Yerim in bridal style before making her way through the crowd as they all respectfully moved for her to get out. They soon dispersed behind her and went back to their business. Hayoung, despite still being angry, was overall relieved that Yerim wasn’t hurt. She didn’t even think about the pain in her wrist because her mind was in deep thought on how she could teach Yerim to be stronger and braver than ever. Hayoung’s head was filled with so much that she nearly walked straight into a pole, but luckily, Yerim had fallen asleep before this so she didn’t feel how the captain had jolted backwards on instinct. _

_ The captain finally arrived at her house and carefully unlocked the door. After shutting it behind and relocking, Hayoung walked up the stairs and into her bedroom where she carefully laid Yerim down on the mattress. She then got a cold wet towel to clean the younger’s face before calling a friend on the phone. _

_ “Hey, um listen…sorry to call you up so suddenly, I know you have your shift but this is really important…yeah, yeah I know—no, I swear it’s important…I know, I know…look, I’ll make it up to you.” Hayoung pinched the bridge of her nose to try and calm down her thoughts so she can clearly get her point across without sounding irrational. “Alright fine, what do you want…ok, ok I’ll buy ice cream for you—for a week?? Hey that’s not—ugh! Whatever, just get your ass over here. Bye.” _

_ She quickly hung up and sighed once more as she sat at the edge of her bed. Hayoung looked over her shoulders at the sleeping Yerim. She chuckled at how cute the kid was slightly snoring in her slumber. Aside from that, today was quite upsetting to say the least. Hayoung couldn’t stop thinking about how frightened and terrified Yerim had looked during their little altercation. It scared the captain, too. _

  
  


_ ——— _

  
  


_ “So how is she?” _

_ “She’s perfectly fine, no injuries anywhere, but her breathing isn’t rhythmatic like usual kids her age. We can make an appointment for her by next week and maybe prescribe her an inhaler.” _

_ “Oh…alright. Thank you, Jiho. I really appreciate it. _

_ “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t suddenly get out of work and miss my 5 hour shift, right?” Both of them chuckled at the light joke. “Anywho, it’s time to fix your…rather bloody wrist.” Jiho grimaced at the sight before leading Hayoung into the bathroom. But once inside, the nurse was shocked to find a heel in the wound. “What the hell?! Hayoung, how—” _

_ “Shh! Don’t wake up the kid. And it’s…complicated.” _

_ “Look, this is a serious injury! We’re gonna need to go to the emergency room and—” _

_ “No! No, just…just get this out for me, please? I only have enough money for Yerim’s appointment, so there’s no way I’m paying the hospital bill. Hell I don’t even have insurance.” Of course, Jiho was quite hesitant about this since she’s yet to learn how to do surgery. And especially as a high schooler, there was no guarantee that this would even remotely be safe. _

_ “I…I don’t know. As much as I want to help…I can’t promise you that you’ll be completely fine after. And whether or not I’ll do everything right.” _

_ “That’s ok. Today was really rough for the kid, so…this is the least I can do.” _

_ “Why do you care so much about her anyway? Is she a relative?” _

_ “Well not, but…she’s like a younger sister to me.” Jiho sighed in defeat, then within seconds, she smiled softly. _

_ “You’re extraordinary, Hanyang-ah.” This made the captain laugh at the mention of her nickname, something her friends gave to her during elementary school. _

_ “Do you have your tools?” _

_ “Uh, yeah. Let me get it.” _

_ “So you DO carry it around with you.” _

_ “Hey! I’m gonna be a doctor so I might as well practice emergency procedures as much as I can.” Jiho defended herself as Hayoung continued teasing her. _

_ “It’s weird the teachers just walked by while you’re carefully stitching up some teddy bear.” _

_ “Because they know how great I’ll be when I get my medical license.” _

_ Hayoung giggled at this as the nurse sat down beside her by the bathtub and fished through her bag for her surgery kit. It was a difficult hour and a half when Jiho finally removed the heel from Hayoung’s wound before applying the disinfectant and other things to assure the injury will remain sanitary enough for her to continue for the most difficult part. That took another hour for Jiho to close Hayoung’s wound with stitches and it was quite hard for the captain to not look away. They were both extremely nervous about this since it was Jiho’s first time performing an actual surgery. She tried not to be distracted by her own nervousness while continuing the rest of the progress. In the end, everything actually worked out as Jiho had hoped for, thanks to the lessons she learned from the head doctor. _

_ “Ok…I think I’m done!” _

_ “Nice! Wow, you really pulled that off without backing out.” _

_ “Yeah…yeah, I did.” The nurse leaned on the bathroom wall and placed a hand on her forehead. _

_ “Not bad for just a nurse.” _

_ “Thanks.” Jiho took a deep breath before chuckling. “I still can’t believe I practiced my surgery skills on your wrist.” _

_ “Well you need all the training as much as possible, right? Plus, I’m fine now! It’s a win-win.” _

_ “Guess so. The others are going to freak tomorrow.” _

_ “Oh well, it’s over anyway.” _

_ “By the way, is the kid staying with you? And did you contact her parents?” _

_ “I tried to actually, but no one answered, so….” _

_ “Damn, then she’s staying the night?” _

_ “I suppose. Might as well just sleep on the couch tonight.” _

_ “Haha have fun with that. I have to get back at my shift soon, too. I’ll come by tomorrow morning and check up on you two.” _

_ “Alright, see you later.” _

_ “Oh and be sure to carefully clean your wound, don’t just put it under the faucet and let the water run over it, use a wet towel.” _

_ “Got it, and what about Yerim?” _

_ “Get her water when she wakes up so she stays hydrated and breathing well. If it’s still a bit abnormal, then come to visit the doctor.” _

_ “Thanks a lot again, Jiho.” _

_ “No problem! Bye for now.” _

_ “Later.” _

_ Night soon struck afterwards as Hayoung carefully situated herself on the couch, trying her best not to hurt her newly bandaged wrist. She made the couch comfortable enough before lying down and binge watching TV shows on NetFlix. Hayoung continued thinking about this day and how Yerim had reacted after her brief fight with the three girls. Only then it dawned on her that she didn’t call fellow authorities for backup to take them away into juvenile detention. Groaning at the sudden realization, she practically face palmed herself for basically allowing those grunts to get away with everything they did. She was especially more pissed off since Yerim was affected as well. Within a few hours, Hayoung didn’t realize she was growing so tired from all the thinking when her eyes closed and she suddenly slipped into a deep slumber, unintentionally leaving her television on for the whole night. _

  
  


_ —— _

_ _

_ The next morning, Hayoung woke up early at around 6AM to check up on Yerim, but not forgetting to get her a glass of water and turning off the TV. The captain saw her snuggling soundly in bed, which made her chuckle as she set the cup down and took a seat on the edge of the bed. Hayoung gently shook Yerim awake, which took a few minutes until the younger girl’s eyes were fluttering open. She stretched on the bed while groaning audibly, amusing the captain even more as her smile grew wider. _

_ “Rise and shine, kiddo!” _

_ “What time is it…?” Yerim rubbed her eyes while still having them closed because she was still very tired. It was really early in the morning after all. _

_ “It’s only 6 in the morning. Wanted to wake you up early and get you home before your parents get too worried.” _

_ “Oh…actually, can I just stay with you?” The request was soft spoken, but Hayoung was able to pick it up. She was quite surprised by Yerim’s question. _

_ “Why don’t you want to go home?” _

_ “…I just don’t. Never psyched to go home honestly. So…please? I promise I’ll be good, I can help you cook, and—” _

_ “Yerim, Yerim, slow down a bit.” The captain placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her ranting as she quickly took a deep breath. “Hey…I don’t know what your situation is, but…I don’t think it can be possible. I’m sorry, kid.” There was a brief moment of silence until the younger girl continued, not making eye contact with Hayoung. _

_ “My parents aren’t as caring as you think they are…you’d question their behavior if you ever meet them. So even if I’m gone for decades, they wouldn’t care at all.” _

_ The captain couldn’t believe what she was hearing right now and was obviously shocked by this information. “What? Yerim, are you sure—” _

_ “Yes, I’m telling the truth.” There was clearly desperation in the young girl’s eyes and it broke Hayoung’s heart. Speaking of which, she’d always felt lonely living alone in her house, so maybe a close friend like Yerim could stay with her. _

_ “…alright. But—” _

_ “Yay!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!” _

_ She gave Hayoung a bone crushing hug, causing her to groan in pain a little when her spine cracked in multiple places. However, Yerim was too ecstatic to notice and kept embracing her mentor. The captain merely laughed it off before returning the hug, still careful about her wrist. _

_ On that same day, it was storming hard and Yerim was busy gathering everything in her room, shoving stuff she could in her large suitcase while her parents were downstairs doing whatever, not giving a care about her. From clothes to many photographs of her friends, she tried her best to fit them all inside before zipping the luggage. It was now or never and without any protection from the rain, beside her hoodie and sweatpants, she climbed out the window and started running, dragging along her big suitcase and dashed out of her neighborhood. By the time the rain stopped, the only light available was street lights as she was casually strolling around as bypassers thought she was a tourist on vacation because of her happy expression. _

_ When Yerim finally arrived at Hayoung’s house, she instantly knocked on the door. Hayoung opened it and upon seeing the state she was in, quickly ushered her in. Additionally, the captain was fairly surprised when she saw how large the suitcase was and it managed to come rolling in her home with ease. Yerim remembered Hayoung drying her hair with a towel before allowing her to change into her own clothes. She sluggishly put them on, feeling dead tired and cold after the long walk. The captain tucked Yerim in her own bed so she could nap, knowing the younger had a rough time yesterday. She chuckled at her cutely snoring before making her way downstairs to sleep on the couch again. _

_ After a month, Hayoung ended up gathering enough money for an extra bed in her room and wanted to surprise Yerim on her birthday, which practically made the girl cry of joy when Hayoung uncovered her eyes. The first thing the school girl did was jump on her bed like a five year old, which made Hayoung crack up. Ever since Yerim moved into her home, it felt like paradise. And most importantly, she was living the best life and always saw her as a big sister she’d unknowingly always wanted. They’d go shopping, eating, car rides around the city, and walked to the academy together nearly everyday. _

_ But like every story, tragedy always struck. _

_ Hayoung had messaged Yerim one day, telling her she’ll be home a bit later than usual because she had some important business to deal with. The younger merely shrugged and texted her back saying if she needed any help to let her know, to which Hayoung replied with a thumbs up after half an hour or so. It would be the last time they ever talked. Yerim waited until the next day, then the next day…then the next day. Nothing, no calls or text messages back. She grew concerned of Hayoung, pressing her number many times and waited through the dreadful rings that always led her to voicemail. It wasn’t till Yerim arrived at the academy, everyone of her peers was huddled around the large TV screen in her classroom, watching the news. _

_ The young girl tried to see what was going on and why everyone looked so empty. It gave her the creeps, but she was about to find out why. Grabbing a chair, Yerim carefully stood up on it and watched the television to see what was happening. But never expected to ever hear these words. _

** _The SWAT team had raided a news station just last week as it was suspected of being held hostage by a gunman. However, a shootout suddenly occurred, taking the life of the youngest known police captain, Song Hayoung. _ **

_ Everything instantly felt numb and quiet. The words kept playing in Yerim’s head, keeping her deaf from Hyejoo calling out for her name as she fell backwards on the chair, falling unconscious immediately. She could faintly hear her name echoing as Hyejoo kept shouting it to get her attention, she but was too shocked to respond to anything. Everyone crowded around her to make sure she was okay after the nasty fall, the rest of the other captains quickly rushed into the classroom to see what just happened. Yerim was carried out to the clinic area where she was eventually transferred to the hospital, inevitably slipping into a coma that lasted for an atrocious month. _

_   
  
_

_ —— _

_ _

_ Morning seemed brighter than usual. Yerim slightly moved in the bed as her eyes slowly fluttered open. The first person she sees is a nurse who was currently busy checking the ICU monitor by her bed, constantly glancing between the clipboard in her hand as well. Yerim squirmed even more as she looked around in the hospital room she was in, which caught the nurse's attention. She was instantly by the young girl’s side to calm her down, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder to get her attention. _

_ “Hey hey hey, sweetie, you’re ok. You’re ok.” Yerim felt the nurse’s thumb rubbing her shoulder and it made her relax a little. “My name is Bae Yubin, but you can just call me Binnie.” _

_ “W-why am I…?” With the way she was still gazing around the room, the nurse assumed she was questioning the area they were currently in. _

_ “We’re in the hospital right now, Yerim. You’re here because you were in a coma.” _

_ “Oh…how long?” _

_ “A month.” Binnie slightly winced when she told her because hearing something like that was harsh. The younger girl was processing this, surprised she even slept that long. _

_ “Where’s Hayoung-unnie?” _

_ “…Y-Yerim….” The nurse should’ve expected this; of course she would be in denial of what happened. Binnie couldn’t blame her at all. “Why don’t you just rest, alright? I’ll have the other nurses bring you a plate of breakfast so you can feel energized.” _

_ With that being said, Binnie phoned her colleagues to bring the trays and fill it with the food from their cafeteria. One of them soon arrived after a few minutes and carefully set it on Yerim’s lap. However, instead of eating immediately, she stared at her food with an eerily blank expression. Binnie sighed softly at this, sympathizing with the girl as she was well aware of her friendship with Hayoung, according to Jiho. Speaking of the other nurse, Binnie hadn’t seen her in a while. Especially ever since the news broke out. She’d tried contacting Jiho dozens of times and constantly informed the head doctor about it, but she was told that the other nurse would be taking some time off for as long as necessary. _

_ Binnie raked a hand through her hair, sighing as she thought about the previous month that passed by. It’d happen so quickly that no one even expected anything. Basically unpredictable, as a matter of fact. Many were deeply affected and disregarded contacts from other closed ones who tried to reach out. When Binnie looked over at Yerim again, she smiled softly when she saw the girl taking small bites of the cube fruits, though her expression still blank as ever. Just then, there was a knock on the door to the ward, which immediately grabbed both of their attention. Yerim perked up and eyed the entrance, hoping it was who she thought it was behind the door as she was still in denial. _

_ However, she never expected another stranger to be let in by Binnie. It seemed like the nurse was expecting her since they shook hands and bowed many times as they greeted each other. Binnie then led the newcomer towards Yerim’s bed to take a seat by it. _

_ “Hey Yerim! My name is Han Eunji, though I’m more known as Mia. Consider me as a friendly therapist for you to talk to. It’s completely free as well!” She smiled with enthusiasm and patted Yerim’s shoulder. _

_ “Oh…thanks….” _

_ “Just a side note, I’m still in training for a bit, but my supervisor insisted I take this task since you seem to need a therapist at least around your age, so here I am!” _

_ From then on, the numerous therapy sessions went pretty well with Yerim eventually trusting Mia enough to reveal how close she really was with Hayoung, but she had broken down many times while talking about her. Nonetheless, it broke Mia’s heart to see such a sweet, innocent girl in this state, so she did everything she could to try and get Yerim to move on. Eventually, it worked after months as the younger girl felt a little less emotional whenever she mentioned Hayoung and was more comfortable to reveal more about her friendship with the late captain, revealing their history and everything. In turn, Mia was able to learn a lot about why Hayoung was loved by many, therefore, it was incredibly unfortunate that a young life passed on so early. _

_ But other than that, Mia was proud of Yerim for being trusting enough to tell her all the things she needed to know so she could help out the younger girl more. Soon, Yerim was discharged from the hospital, which ultimately had the therapy sessions come to an end. As they exited the hospital building, Mia watched as Yerim strolled out into the sunlight, putting her hand over her eyes. She then looked behind her to see the friendly therapist smiling proudly at her, which also made her grin a little. _

_ “I…I guess this is goodbye. For now.” _

_ “I’m sure we’ll meet again someday, Yerimmie.” _

_ “Yeah.” _

_ The younger girl turned around again and reluctantly walked further away, which, to Mia, seemed like she was going to head home and rest, therefore, thought it was her cue to leave as well. Still smiling, Mia began reentering the hospital as her thoughts played back to the day she first met Yerim, seeing how empty and void she looked. The young therapist nearly cried tears of joy when she saw how calm and mature her patient was now ever since she learned to move on. Just then, as Mia was about to walk up the stairs, she heard Yerim suddenly calling out to her from a distance. _

_ “Unnie!!” The older girl looked towards the direction where the voice came from, only to be immediately tackled in a tight embrace as arms wrapped around her neck. “Thank you. For everything.” Yerim muffled in her shoulder, causing Mia to giggle. _

_ The therapist patted her head and back comfortingly, enjoying the heartwarming hug they were sharing. “You don’t have to thank me, Yerim-ah. You’re so brave and strong, I’m really proud you were able to move on.” _

_ Their embrace ended with Yerim separating herself away first before waving farewell and truly walking away this time. Mia watched as the younger girl was distances away, until she disappeared behind a building and the therapist didn’t see her anymore. Sighing happily, Mia turned around and made her way into the hospital again, closing the door behind her. _ _   
  
  
_

-

The storm raged on as Yerim completely drenched at this point. She set her bouquet down on Hayoung’s gravestone and continued to peacefully mourn her late mentor, closing her eyes while clasping her hands together. But as she was in the middle of doing so, the rain suddenly…stopped? Yerim opened her eyes and looked above her, only to see a black umbrella protecting her from the pouring rain. She sighed and instantly knew who it was, looking behind her to see the same three girls who had practically terrorized her all those years ago. They reminded her of when Hayoung came to her rescue. 

“Y-Yerim sshi, you’ll c-catch a c-cold.” The middle girl, as well as the other two, shivered in the freezing temperature. 

“Minnie, you were specifically told to wait in the car.”

“Yes, I-I know, but it would be u-unethical to leave you d-drenched in the bitter rain like this….”

“Well I’m almost done anyways, so you guys can stay in the car. I won’t take long.”

“B-but—”

“Don’t make me repeat myself.” Flinching at the tone, they immediately complied without another word.

“R-right away, Yerim sshi! You should t-take the umbrella though.” Sighing once more, the younger girl accepted the item from Minnie’s hand as the older quickly ushered her minions to rush back to their vehicle. 

The girl went back mourning, closing her eyes once more as she held the umbrella close. “Hayoung unnie…I hope you’re watching over me from above. I’m not much of a believer, but……you’re the only angel that I’ll ever believe in.” Thunder roared softly in the night sky. 

“Without you here…

_   
…I’m being haunted by the ghosts of the past…”  
_

  
  



	23. Finding Love

Unbeknownst to the Yerim, however, there were other visitors as well. Frowning when she heard distant chattering, peered towards her right to see two older women linking arms, one of them holding a large umbrella above their heads as they neared the spot where Yerim was currently standing. Sighing, she quickly said her final prayers before walking away, not feeling the need to be around unfamiliar people and have them take pity on her. As the women got closer, one of them noticed Yerim leaving, though they didn’t see her face since her back was already facing them. 

“Hey, Haseul.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you see that girl?” Saerom pointed at Yerim’s figure exiting the area and hop into a car. 

“Oh, yes.”

“Ok, good.” The older woman sighed in relief. “I thought it was a ghost.”

Haseul burst into laughter and playfully smacked Saerom’s shoulder. “Since when were you so scared of ghosts? They’re not real.” She relinked their arms together as they continued walking up to Hayoung’s grave. 

“Ever since the girls made me go see Insidious with them. The worst jump scares I’ve had in my life!”

“Aw, you don’t have to worry because, again, ghosts aren’t real.”

“But still, it’s always good to be cautious and aware of your surroundings.” Saerom unconsciously held Haseul’s hand a little tighter, which amused her even more. 

Afterwards, they finally arrived at the spot that had a special place in their heart. They saw Hayoung’s name engraved on the tomb, along with numerous flowers placed by it. Haseul read her late best friend’s quote, clearly remembering her saying the exact phrase like it’d been yesterday. They both missed her dearly, and yet, despite moving on, everything still felt empty and vague without Hayoung.

“This reminds me of our younger days.” Haseul smiled at Saerom who’s hand was over her’s on the umbrella handle. She previously suggested the hold it together for further stability. 

“That’s why we came, silly.” Saerom teased before shifting the bag containing a simple beer can. The two continued walking in a warm silence until they reached a familiar grave. Saerom let go of the umbrella to take the beer out of the bag, popping the can open before setting it down in front of the grave. 

“Just like old times.”

They both wondered just how amazing she would be if she was still around, being the incredible captain she was destined to pursue. They remembered when superintendent Kim had given Hayoung the captain title, which happily surprised all her friends. Haseul, Saerom, as well as Sooyoung and Jiho held a small celebration for her with Korean BBQ, all of them cheering and clinking their cans of beer together. It was undoubtedly the best times of their lives.

-

_ It was a really busy noon in high school today, though students were glad to finally take a break during lunch. The cafeteria was especially bustling with kids idling around here and there, some still in line to get their tray of food, and others had arrived a little too late and the lunch ladies had informed them there was no more, which led them to being teased by their friends. Haseul, Hayoung, Sooyoung, Saerom, and Jiho were amongst those who were able to grab seats at a lunch table on time before it got too crowded. They began chit chatting about random things that popped up in their minds, always finding these to gossip, and keeping the conversations going. _

_ Are you sure Mr.Park told us there was a test tomorrow?? I didn’t hear him say anything about that.” _

_ “Duh, you were asleep, Soo.” Jiho informed her hilariously idiotic friend who sat there dumbfounded as the others laughed at her. “Maybe if you slept 10pm instead 1 in the morning, you wouldn’t be drooling on your desk.” She smirked while Sooyoung was quick to defend herself. _

_ “Hey! It’s not my fault history is so boring. Who cares about how the Josung Dynasty flourished, then perished.” _

_ “It’s _ ** _Joseon_**_!” Haseul immediately corrected her before cracking up. _

_ “_ ** _Whatever!_ ** _” The others immediately burst into laughter, cackling while pointing at Sooyoung huffed and pouted as she was being teased over and over again. They soon stopped to let her and themselves take a break so their stomachs aren’t too sore the next day. _

_ “Anyways, I was busy the other day with the academy and on the way home, one of my students got into some confrontation with these three girls around the block down the street.” _

_ “What happened??” Saerom, as well as her other friends, were surprised by this. Although Jiho wasn’t as surprised because she realized what Hayoung was talking about. _

_ “I don’t know, apparently she just bumped into one of them and they got offended by it. I got angry at how they poorly handled the situation and beat them in front of the bystanders surrounding us.” _

_ “Oh my god, I’d pay to see that.” Being the dork she was, they were practically expecting Sooyoung to say something like that. “Wait, is that why you have that bandage around your wrist?” She pointed it out, which allowed Haseul and Saerom to connect the dots. _

_ “Ugh yeah, one of the girls’ heels got stuck when I protected my student. I somehow yanked it right off her shoe.” Hayoung explained while chuckling, amused at her friends’ reactions to the story. _

_ “She called me while I was in the middle of my shift to stitch up her arm. Lasted hours, I tell you.” _

_ “But at least you still got some practice!” Hayoung enthusiastically reminded Jiho, who playfully rolled her eyes. _

_ “Wow…all of that happened in one day??” Saerom questioned, with both Sooyoung and Haseul looking expectantly at her. _

_ “Yep! Crazy, I know.” _

_ “And what happened to your student?” Hayoung averted her attention to their dorky friend. How was she going to explain this rationally? _

_ “Uh, so…she kinda lives with me now?” _

_ “Huh????” All of her friends exclaimed simultaneously. _

_ “What do you mean she lives with you??” Haseul was frowning deeply, not expecting Hayoung to say that at all. _

_ “She said her parents are neglectful and she wanted to stay with me instead.” _

_ The nurse was still speechless about this sudden news. “This story really took a turn….” _

_ “It’s actually not too bad, honestly speaking. She’s a really nice kid. And the academy is paying me more these days, so I can buy her a new bed soon for her birthday.” Hayoung giggled when all of her friends cooed at how cute that was. _

_ “Well, if you guys ever need any help, Seul and I are here.” Saerom motioned to herself and her crush, who quickly agreed. _

_ “Aw, thanks guys, it seems like too much to ask from you.” _

_ “It would never be too much, Hanyang. You’re already living by yourself, too. You’ll need all the help you can get.” _

_ “Ya’ll are too nice to me….” _

_ Sooyoung playfully rolled her eyes. “Could say the same for you.” _

_ “We love you too, Hayoung.” Saerom chuckled before continuing on. “It’s a great thing you’re doing for a kid.” _

_ “I agree, whatever her situation is, I’m sure she’ll forever be grateful.” _

_ They never thought she could get any better. She was already so selfless and caring, but they didn’t think she’d go far enough to help someone in need of a safe, new home to live in. She’d done so many courageous things that it was impossible not to admire Hayoung with how amazing she is. At this point, it wasn’t too surprising to know she would even go far and beyond to help anyone. It was also how she grew close with the friend group. _

_ Haseul constantly needed help on her homework from school, as well as combat training in the academy and Hayoung was always there. Jiho would have trouble with practicing her surgery on the teddy bears sometimes so she’d frequently tried to assist the nurse, despite not knowing much about medical stuff. Saerom would occasionally seek advice from Hayoung on how to talk to Haseul about her feelings, which she always tries her best to get them together as much as possible. And with Sooyoung being…Sooyoung, Hayoung would be amused every time the tall dork would ask for small things like a massage on her shoulders or to check and see if her makeup is smudged. Nonetheless, the young captain did so anyways. It made her happy to know that her friends were happy. _

_ “Hey Hayoung, are you going to be busy this week? We’re going to the arcade with Seul’s little sister and their friends, wanna come?” Sooyoung inquired while chewing on a granola bar. _

_ “Aw man, I’d love to.” She pouted and placed her chin in her hands, sorrow about not being able to hang out with her group. _

_ “Why can’t you go then?” _

_ “I have to prepare for a mission. A close friend of mine called me a few weeks ago and asked me to come and help her investigate something about the mafia.” _

_ “M-mafia?!” Jiho spoke in a hushed voice as the others leaned in, also shocked by this new information. What a day this was. “Are you going to be ok??” _

_ “Yes, I’ll be fine, guys. Don’t worry.” _

_ “Of course we’re going to be worried! You said ‘mafia’ and they’re scary people!” Sooyoung added on, hoping Hayoung would maybe reconsider this, but she didn’t back down. _

_ “Guys, I already made a promise. And I swear, I’ll come back safe.” _

_ “You better! Or else you’re gonna have to pay for the hospital bill.” Saerom informed her friend, who nodded understanding and reassured her that she would remember that. _

_ “Do you need any help preparing? Feel you should really be careful since this is the mafia we’re talking about.” The youngest one in the group offered. However, Hayoung, didn’t want to bother them too much about it, therefore, she promptly declined it. _

_ “No it’s fine, I’ll be fully prepared by the time I’m on that mission. _

_ “Alright…but you better call us if you need anything.” Haseul reluctantly let the topic go for now. _

_ Hayoung decided to change the subject so she could get her friends’ minds off of her mission and ease their stress. “Anyways, I’m meeting the same old friend this Sunday if you guys want to meet her. And by that I mean everyone except the busy nurse, of course.” Hayoung lightly teased and looked towards Jiho’s direction. _

_ “At least I’m being paid a hefty amount! Otherwise, you all wouldn’t be going on vacation with me to Hawaii this summer.” She subtly took a sip of her water bottle. _

_ “Alright, alright I’m kidding!” _

_ “I’ll give up my lunch to you for the whole year!” Sooyoung desperately offered as everyone else practically begged and tried to appeal Jiho, to which she quickly shut them off, telling them to stop. _

_ “Quit it already! You guys are going regardless because my mom will _ ** _never_ ** _ let me go by myself. And plus, I don’t want to be alone.” _

_ “Aww, you love us!” Saerom playfully hit her arm, cooing at how adorable Jiho was. “Oh by the way, Haseul and I are babysitting mine and Hyunjin’s cousin this Saturday at the daycare we work in, if anyone wants to help out.” _

_ “Ah, I wish I could.” Sooyoung smiled sympathetically. “But not after babysitting that little gremlin….” _

_ “Soo, Yeojin was just trying to play with you.” Haseul rolled her eyes when she immediately knew who her older friend was talking about. _

_ “As if! You know how many times I had to play hide and seek with her?? That kid’s a monster!” _

_ “First of all, you’re being overly dramatic right now. Second, you hide in the worst places possible.” _

_ “The top of the fridge is a fantastic spot! So then she couldn’t catch me!” _

_ “And you—hid on a refrigerator??” Hayoung questioned in utter disbelief. _

_ “Yes. And it would’ve worked if Haseul had kept her mouth shut!” _

_ “Because it scared me! Imagine walking into your kitchen to eat something and then you just see a demon on the top of your fridge!” _

_ “Are you calling me a _ ** _demon_ ** _ now?!” Everyone started cracking up again, slapping the table and clapping as they laughed at each other. As the group gossiped about anything they could come up with, the lunch bell finally rang, signalling everyone it was time to go to class again and finish the rest of the day. _

  
  


_ — _

_ _

_ Saturday finally came with the sun shining brightly on a breezy morning. Outside of a small daycare, Saerom parked her car in the lot before walking towards the backseat and opening the door, revealing two young elementary school kids. They quickly unbuckled their seat belts and held both of Saerom’s hands as she led them inside. Upon entering, the place was hectic with at ten other children running around everywhere, tossing stuff at each other, stealing some toys and many other chaotic things. Haseul was the first to greet them on the way in. _

_ “Hey! You’re all just on time.” _

_ “Yeah sorry, we could’ve gotten here earlier but there was traffic.” _

_ “Oh no, it's fine. Here, I’ve prepared your uniform in our locker.” _

_ “Thanks!” Saerom looked down at the two kids still holding her hands. She almost wanted to coo when she saw their large, cute eyes staring back at her. “Jiheonnie, Yujinnie, why don’t you both go play first, ok? Haseul unnie and I will be out in a minute.” _

_ “Ok!” They exclaimed simultaneously before doing what she said. Saerom grabbed their backpacks and hung them up by the entrance. Haseul giggled watching them run off and turned back to her friend, who was now heading into the locker room to change. _

_ “Are you gonna prepare their breakfast?” The older girl questioned as she took her jacket off and slipped on the daycare coat on. _

_ “In about five minutes or so.” She answered while checking her backpack to see if anything was forgotten at home. _

_ “Alright, I can help you out with it. What’s on the menu today?” _

_ “Kimbap and chicken soup. Oh and the kids also really liked the mango juice from last week so the boss requested more for today as well.” _

_ “Cool, just hope some of them don’t drink too much…I can’t deal with another horror event like that again.” _

_ “Ugh yeah, you said it.” _

_ Haseul chuckled and agreed before leading Saerom into the kitchen with her. As the kids continued playing, the two of them quickly prepared the kimbaps and cooked chicken soup, constantly tasting it to see if the dish was good enough. Soon after, they finally finished making breakfast and all the kids were called to their small dining room as Haseul and Saerom served their food in metal lunch plates. Once they were done, the two friends were finally able to sit back and relax while the children enjoyed breakfast. Needless to say, the two of them were exhausted with handling a bunch of adorably crazy kids every Saturday. Haseul was the first to suggest that they take the jobs at the daycare so Saerom could easily babysit for her little cousin on the weekdays. She was heavily thankful to the younger girl for bringing up such a good idea since now they were getting paid to babysit. Although there were many ups and downs, the job was amazing because the kids loved them and their boss was super kind. And most importantly, for Saerom, she was able to hang out with Haseul every Saturday. _

_ “Hey Seul.” _

_ “Yeah?” _

_ “Do you think we can take a break next week? I feel like I should spend some alone time for once.” _

_ “Sure, if you want. Yeojin’s been nagging me to take her here so she can hang out with Jiheon and Yujin. Therefore, I’ll have to be back here again.” _

_ “Awww that’s so cute. I can be present next Saturday if you need my help.” _

_ “Rommie, it’s fine. You should definitely take a break these days, I haven’t seen you take a nap like usual. _

_ “Well yeah but I got detention for falling asleep in class….” Saerom slightly cringed at the memory of when the teacher suddenly hit her desk and startled her awake. _

_ “Oh that, the others told me about it.” Haseul pouted sympathetically, rubbing her friend’s shoulder to comfort. _

_ “But,” the older smiled and looked at her with a soft expression, “I felt better afterwards because you and the girls were there to give me ice cream.” _

_ Haseul giggled at this as she vividly remembered it clearly. “You were so cute.” She was flustered at herself for blurting it out. “I mean, you still are, b-but yeah.” _

_ Saerom could see her blushing madly like a tomato, even though she was looking to the side so the older couldn’t see her red cheeks. Needless to say, Saerom saw how blushy Haseul was and couldn’t help but tease her a little, which lead to the girl being defensive and playfully hit her arm. Just as the kids were almost finished with their breakfast, there was a knock on the door, which alerted the two high school friends. They both glanced at the door while the children didn’t hear it with all their talking and just continued eating. Both Saerom and Haseul got up from their seats and headed to the door, wondering who could be at the door right now. It was probably their boss, but then she was supposed to be out making errands for the daycare. Saerom looked through the peephole of the door to see who knocked, only to be surprised to see Hayoung and some other girl seemingly around their age. _

_ “Who is it?” _

_ “It’s Hangyangie!” Saerom exclaimed quietly so the kids won’t be alerted, then opened the door. _

_ “Hey guys! What’s up?” _

_ “Hi! We’re kinda busy right now. What are you doing here?” _

_ “To help out with the kids! I heard Jiheonnie missed me.” Hayoung smiled widely, causing both of them to chuckle. “Oh! By the way, this is a good friend of mine.” _

_ “Oh hello, I’m Saerom, this is Haseul.” _

_ “Greetings! What’s your name?” _

_ “I’m Gyuri. Nice to meet you.” The girl quickly bowed and shook Haseul’s hand quickly before letting go. “Sorry to leave shortly, but I must go now. It’s a bit urgent.” _

_ “Oh, that’s alright. We can meet again soon if you’re able to.” _

_ “Thanks, Hayoung. And I’ll tell you about it later on today. Bye now.” _

_ They all waved farewell to Gyuri as she walked further away. Saerom and Haseul both invited Hayoung inside the daycare. By then, the kids were finally done eating breakfast, so the two caretakers had to collect all of the metal trays before one of them somehow ended up sticking on the ceiling. They now knew what to expect, especially the last time when a tray was used as a ninja star, which was why there was a “slice” in the wall. When Hayoung stepped into the small dining room, Jiheon’s eyes immediately perked up, quickly hopping out of her seat to hug the older girl. She wrapped her little arms Hayoung and attached to her like a koala. _

_ “Unnie~! I missed you so much!” _

_ “Awww I missed you too.” She playfully rocked back and forth while they hugged, causing Jiheon to giggle. “How was your breakfast, child?” _

_ “Delicious! Seul and Rom unnie are amazing chefs!” The elementary school kid flashed two thumbs up and toothy smile, flattering the said caretakers and causing them to blush a little by the kind compliment. _

_ After the caretakers finished cleaning the tables with Hayoung’s help, they washed all the silverwares and plates before it was time to let the kids play again. While Hayoung was in the playroom with everyone else, Haseul and Saerom were preparing the ingredients for lunch in a few hours, then after that, it was nap time. As they were setting everything up neatly in the kitchen, Haseul was standing on a small ladder, busy with cleaning the shelves while Saerom organized the food in their large refrigerator. Sometimes the younger girl would buy snacks to keep in the cold storage so whenever they felt hungry or needed a snack during their breaks, they could just take some out from the fridge. And Haseul basically wanted to make Saerom feel more at ease with this job. _

_ Nonetheless, it worked and the older couldn’t be more grateful for her suggesting they take on this hefty job together and take care of little, adorable rascals. With that being said, Saerom grabbed a small Yakult bottle from the fridge before leaning on the chair she was sitting on. She then peered up at Haseul, who was now putting in food ingredients that their boss had bought yesterday. _

_ “Hey, I’ll help you.” _

_ “Oh, no it’s fine. Just relax, I’m almost done anyways.” _

_ “Alright. Well I’ll still be here if you need me.” _

_ “Thank you.” Haseul slightly blushed, but thankfully, Saerom didn’t see and focused on drinking the small Yakult bottle while on her phone. _

_ As she was about to put the last of the products into the shelves, Haseul turned around to grab the last ingredient, but it wasn’t there. Dumbfounded, she quickly gazed around the kitchen and searched for the damn thing. Within a few seconds, she finally found what she was looking for…and it had to be so far away. Sighing, Haseul reluctantly turned to her side, feeling bad she had to disturb Saerom. _

_ “Hey Rommie?” The older looked up in curiosity. “Can you um…get that for me please?” _

_ “Haha, sure thing.” _

_ She giggled at Haseul’s dorkiness because getting up to grab the item that she’d pointed to. While Saerom was busy with that, Haseul continued organizing the other ingredients inside the shelves. However, it felt like the universe was practically against when one of them was too far for her to reach. She was basically cursed being so short, her only growth spurt merely occuring back in middle school and that was it. By the time Saerom came back, she saw Haseul struggling to grab something in the shelf and she was quick to offer help. _

_ “I can grab that for you.” She stepped closer to see what the younger was reaching for. _

_ “No, I got it. You can just hand me the thing and then I’m done—” _

_ Immediately she turned around carefully on the ladder, Haseul didn’t expect Saerom’s face to be so. They both instinctively froze, having no idea what they could do to make this less awkward as their eyes were wide. The two merely stared at each other, until Haseul suddenly looked down at her…lips. Within those few seconds, which felt like minutes, all of the times where she’d gay panicked over Saerom’s beauty came crashing in like strong waves as Haseul didn’t know how to properly react. There was maybe a small part of herself that told her to close the gap, but then she felt it would be too irrational since they were just friends. _

_ Saerom, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to close the gap as well. Haseul couldn’t quite tell and thought she was crazy when she saw her crush leaning for a kis— _

_ “_ ** _Ahem._ ** _” _

_ They both quickly looked towards the direction of a very familiar voice, only to see Hayoung holding hands with Jiheon and Yujin, who both stared at them obliviously. Upon finally noticing them, Haseul and Saerom quickly distanced themselves, blushing as red as tomatoes. Hayoung chuckled before ushering the kids outside, promising she’ll be out in a minute. She then turned back to her two idiot friends and crossed her arms. _

_ “Get a room next time, will ya? Now help me tuck the children in for their nap.” _

_ “S-sure!” Haseul speedily got off her ladder before following Hayoung outside. But then she saw Saerom still stuck in her spot, dazed from what had just happened. “U-um—Rommie?” _

_ “Oh.” The older girl quickly shook her head to get herself together. “Yeah?” _

_ “It’s almost naptime, s-so the kids should sleep soon.” _

_ “Ah, right, right sorry. Let’s uh, go.” _

_ That being said, Haseul smiled a little before raising her hand up to hold Saerom’s hand, to which the older immediately accepted as they finally exited the kitchen. After a while, all the children were each situated in little mattresses, perfect for their size, and they soon fell asleep. Hayoung was tucking a napping Jiheon while Saerom draped a blanket over Yujin, who was snoring somewhat audibly but luckily didn't wake up the others. Haseul was way on the side to make sure everyone was sound asleep. While her two friends were busy with their job, Hayoung glanced slightly at Saerom before whisperingto her. . _

_ “Hey, Rommie.” _

_ “Hm?” _

_ “When are you going to tell Haseul?” _

_ “T-tell her what?” _

_ “You know what I’m talking about.” She smirked seeing her older friend blush. _

_ “I…can’t.” _

_ Hayoung frowned, confused by the answer. “Why not? What do you mean?” _

_ “Well…I don’t know if I’m good enough.” _

_ “Saerom…you are.” Sighing, she placed a comforting hand on her friend’s shoulder. “And you’re certainly more than ‘good enough’, Rom.” _

_ “Thanks, Hanyang. I really appreciate that.” _

_ “No problem.” They both smiled, feeling like their stress was relieved by this short talk. “And you two almost smooched, so you’ll definitely be fine.” _

_ Hayoung muttered the last sentence, which a hard smack on her back. And that ultimately turned into a small cat fight that Haseul quite frantically broke up before making them apologize by hugging. For the rest of the day, both of the caretakers, along with Hayoung, continued looking after the kids until it was time for them to go home with their parents. Their boss, who was an elderly woman, finally arrived back from her errands and allowed the two to leave as well for the day. Soon after finishing the daycare job, they all headed back to their dorms in the academy. They were currently in Hayoung and Haseul’s dorm, with Saerom chilling on the couch and watching rom-com. _

_ The youngest was in the kitchen getting food and drinks for her friends. She heard them laughing in the living room, wondering what was so funny while being eager to join them soon. Haseul walked out with a bowl of popcorn and water, to which they thanked her before averting their attention onto the TV. After an hour, Saerom excused herself to the restroom, leaving the other two giggling on the couch as they watch how ridiculous the series of unfortunate events the characters go through in their love lives. Once inside the bathroom, she hastily sent Hayoung a text message. _

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ Signing, Saerom reluctantly exited the bathroom, but not before flushing the toilet to make it look like she actually used it. Walking out, Hayoung immediately gave her a thumbs up without Haseul looking since she was too busy laughing at the show on TV. Still very nervous, Saerom took a seat next to Haseul on the couch, who placed her head on the older's shoulder once again, making her blush as red as a tomato. Hayoung tried not to laugh at this, but when Haseul suddenly giggled at a funny moment on the show, she instantly cackled along to mask what she's really amused by. Saerom saw this and narrowed her eyes at Hayoung, who was basically laughing up tears now. _

_ Everyone had expected she'd confess to Haseul soon like in the next few minutes…but then it lasted for hours. A cartoon marathon started with classic kid's shows, which Haseul was quite absorbed in since it brought nostalgia. Saerom, on the other hand, sat there frozen in her spot and had absolutely no confidence in confessing. As Haseul's head rested on her right shoulder, she looked to the left carefully and saw Hayoung looking at her as if wordlessly saying, 'really?' _

_ Saerom frowned, questioning telepathically questioning what she should do now since her confidence was practically thrown out the window and into a ditch. This time, instead of helping, Hayoung taunted her and held up her phone to show Saerom of her own face photoshopped on a chicken. Mutely snarling, the older girl glared at her mean friend, slowly picking up her remote and was about to toss it at her. That is, until Haseul suddenly spoke up, alerting both of them. _

_ "Rommie?" _

_ "Yes, Seul?" Saerom immediately set her remote down as Hayoung silently snickered into her pillow upon seeing her friend's almost frantic reaction. She then grabbed her water bottle to take a sip. _

_ "Are you going to change the channel?" _

_ "Oh u-uh no, I'm just looking at the um…the buttons." Hayoung nearly choked because it was the funniest excuse she ever heard the older girl use. _

_ "What for?" _

_ "B-because…." She looked over at Hayoung to quickly help her find the words, to which she shortly mouthed the phrase. Saerom nodded as a thanks before continuing. "The TV and remote are new, so I'm still trying to get used to it." _

_ “Ooooh I see, that's why the quality is so nice compared to mine.” _

_ Haseul sighed and snuggled closer to Saerom, which nearly made her melt from so much love as her heart beat grew rapidly. Wow, this crush was probably the most passionate one she's ever had, even though Haseul was her first. She peeked over at Hayoung again, who gave her two thumbs up before she resumed watching the cartoon on television. Sighing, she decided she'd try and confess later on since right now wasn't quite the mood and it seemed like Hayoung understood that as well. They enjoyed the rest of the night binge watching on the TV till sleep was too tempting and they slipped into slumber. _

_   
  
_

_ ——— _

_ _

_ Blankets draped over the couch Saerom was sleeping on and a pillow rested under her head. She softly groaned at how bright it was and placed a hand over her eyes. However, there was a noticeable weight laying on her and she blinked. Peeking down, she saw Haseul peacefully snoozing as her head rested on her shoulder, feathery breaths tickling Saerom's neck. It occasionally made her squirm and quietly chuckle, but she wanted Haseul to sleep as much as she could. They did stay up all night after all watching TV, which Saerom honestly regretted because her vision most likely decreased a ton as a result. _

_ Sighing, she then wrapped her arm around Haseul, blushing at how comfortable it was. Saerom closed her eyes to sleep again since they had all morning after all. The weekend was her best friend since she'd often hang out with her crush, aside from being teased by the others. Speaking of which, Saerom had also realized Hayoung most likely told Jiho and Sooyoung about her failed confession. Sighing once more, she was absolutely not ready to meet them today and be bombarded with mockful chicken noises. Which, in her defense, the moment wasn't exactly right for a confession. But…being the assholes they are, Saerom will not be able to live after last night. She shook her head to get the thoughts away and focused on going to sleep again. _

_ Just then, Hayoung abruptly burst out of the bathroom and immediately startl ed both Saerom and Haseul awake. Like last night, the older girl picked up her remote and was just about to throw it at her, until the captain spoke up. _

_ “Morning, lovebirds! I’m gonna head out to the gym today and exercise if you wanna tag along.” Hayoung informed them with a gleaming smile, which grew wider when she saw them cuddling on the couch. _

_ “Good morning….” Haseul drowsingly responded before letting her head lightly drop back on Saerom’s shoulder, which almost made the early bird coo at how cute it was. _

_ “Hm, it seems like you two can use more rest. I’ll see y'all later!” And with that, Hayoung was out of the door, not forgetting to smile at Saerom who narrowed her eyes at the younger girl. She huffed and gazed down Haseul, surprised she was quick to fall asleep again. Or so it was thought. _

_ “She called us lovebirds….” _

_ “O-oh, yeah. Well, she’s always like that. A tease.” _

_ “I guess….” _

_ “Want to nap for the rest of the morning?” _

_ “Yeah.” She murmured cutely, amusing Saerom as she chuckled lightly. Shortly afterwards, they soon fell asleep once more and continued cuddling with each other. _

_ ——— _

The heavy rain surprisingly simmered down, though it was still sprinkling a bit. Haseul was fixing the flowers laid down by Hayoung’s grave, setting them neatly around her emboldened name. “Don’t drink too much okay, Hanyang?” Haseul advised her late friend as if she was still here with them. 

She then stood up and held Saerom’s hand again, shutting her eyes to silently pray while the other gazed at the tomb. Haseul finished before sighing, first glancing at the floral decorations and then towards Saerom. Her heart cracked a little when she saw the sorrow look in her eyes. It was as though she wished Hayoung would just magically come back. And Haseul couldn’t blame her. 

“Hey….” Softly, she called for her attention as Saerom looked at her with curiosity.

“Yeah?”

“Wanna go back now?”

“Sure….”

Then, off they went with their hands still intertwined. As the distance grew longer, the older captain couldn’t help but look behind to see her friend’s grave one more time before turning back around again. She sighed sadly, still having deep feelings of regret that’d been repressed for so long. Saerom felt it was time to see a therapist, but wasn’t sure if there would be any relevant time for both parties. Nonetheless, maybe holding her crush’s hand right now eased her thoughts in this stressful time. 

They finally got back into Haseul’s car as she started the engine after putting their seatbelts on. It was a peaceful, quiet ride back to the hospital since there was nothing much to think or talk about. The silence was comfortable enough so they didn’t feel the need to interrupt it. Saerom had many thoughts on her mind as she rewound to the events of today; especially when Jiho practically set her up on a date with Haseul at the new barbeque restaurant. But, she honestly couldn’t thank the doctor enough since the date was probably the most fun she’d had in a long while. Both her and Haseul cracked jokes here and there, which made them barely finish their food because they kept on laughing. The younger captain had also flirted with her, and was rather quite obvious about it, so Saerom did the same thing. It almost felt like a dream date from romance movies, oddly enough. 

Jiho and Sooyoung had told her multiple times to confess to Haseul soon, which she’d always back off because the times would always be conflicting. But maybe now Saerom has a chance since the doctor made her go on this date for that particular reason after all. 

“Hey um…Haseul?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you uh…think about love?”

_ Oh god, where am I taking this? _

“It’s romantic and sweet, in my opinion. What about you?” The younger captain answered with honesty before turning towards Saerom for her take on it. Luckily, they were still at a red light so there were a few minutes on the clock. 

“I think the same thing, too. But it’d mean the world if I could share it with someone who’d feel the same.”

“Same as in…they have feelings back for you?”

“Yeah. That way, it’s a win-win situation…I just don’t know how to express without being too scared and chickening out.”

“Well what kind of person are you talking about?” Saerom took a solemn look at Haseul before answering. 

“I think she’s incredibly amazing at many things…how she handles tough situations so well that I only wished I could do the same. I meant her years ago in high school and thought how someone could be so beautiful and attractive. It basically love at first sight, never felt it before. Heck, I’ve never even believed it until I saw her. We quickly became friends after meeting and from then on, we hung out almost daily. Those were truly the best moments of my life…and I wish I could be with her forever.” 

“And so…you have a crush on this person?” Haseul gazed at her with an unreadable expression, but Saerom somehow felt like she knew what it meant. 

“Y-yes…yes I do.”

Just when the younger captain was about to speak more, green light flashed which forced her to drive again. The car went a little faster this time, eager to reach the destination as quick as possible, but also safely, too. With somewhat sweaty hands on the wheel, Haseul felt her heart racing and anxious. However, something told her it was a good thing, she just doesn't know what it was or why. Additionally, Haseul tried not to get her hopes up because if this gut feeling was false, she'd make a great fool out of herself. 

It was an immense relief when she saw the hospital and parked as calmly, and carefully, as possible so she doesn't seem desperate. Saerom, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice and shifted her position on her seat a little so she's facing Haseul. When their eyes met at the same time, they burst out giggling at the simultaneous action. After calming down proximately, Saerom took a deep breath to finally say something she's been wanting to say for years. All the teasing, stress, time and love spent for this moment would astonish anyone. 

"Seullie…I have…something to tell you.” 

"Y-yes?" She almost cursed at herself for stuttering like an idiot as they both practically held their breaths.

“I understand if you don’t want to talk to me after this but you need to know that—” 

A soft finger was quickly placed on her lips. “I would never do that. You’re stuck with me for life.” The younger teasingly reassured her, reaching over to squeeze her hand. 

Saerom swallowed her nervousness before speaking up again. "Well, um…I…I-I like you." Haseul, of course, was greatly taken aback by this. Saerom saw this and became a little too frantic. "U-uh I like, like you! Um…for years, ever since we first met." 

The sincerity in her eyes almost made Haseul cry tears of joy. Without warning or hesitation, she cupped Saerom's cheeks with both hands and quickly pulled her into a passionate kiss. Eyes widened as the older's mind grew hazy, but full of love, returning the kiss with as much excitement. They wished this moment lasted forever, but Haseul pulled away first and Saerom saw how glossy her eyes were. The older captain reached to wipe a stray tear away and Haseul leaned into her hand on her cheek.

"I've been wanting to say the same thing, too…I like you…so much." 

She did her best to mutter the sentence coherently because it was such an emotional moment for her. Smiling widely, Saerom wrapped her arms around Haseul and hugged her tightly, nose nuzzling into her neck as well. However, their time was running as Saerom had to go back into the hospital and rest, so they quickly exited the car and held hands on the way in. Once through the doors, Jiho noticed how giddy they were after their date as she raised an eyebrow at the two. But in her mind, fingers were crossed and she hoped Saerom did what she was supposed to do. 

"Wow, you guys seemed like you had fun. How was it?" 

"Amazing!"

"Lovely!" They both answered simultaneously, surprising the doctor.

"That's great! Alright Rom, time to give you a check up for the day and then you must sleep." 

"Oh, alright." She then faced Haseul. "Will you visit tomorrow?" 

"Yep! Rest well, ok? And be sure to text me when you can." They both shared a sweet peck, seemingly forgetting their doctor friend was standing right there as Jiho witnessed it with wide eyes.

_   
  
_

_ _

_ _

_ _

_ _

-

Footsteps echoed through a vacated building after one very chaotic and rampageous night. Tables capsized and flipped over other tables counters, food and plates littered everyone, chairs scattered around the entire perimeter, and windows were practically non-existent at this point. Nayeon carefully took steps through the enormous mess of the previously beautiful banquet, trying her best not to slip over anything.

She’d been cautious ever since the lieutenant somehow didn’t see a banana peel by the entrance and nearly glided through the ground. Nayeon finally reached the stage area and took short stairs up onto it before surveying the entire place. She was commanded to inspect the building one more time, incase there was anything else they’d missed during their first investigation when the firefighters had rescued remaining survivors. Nayeon had yet to find what was truly absent in the human eye. 

♤

In one of the most anticipated debut stages, an upcoming young singer was calmly preparing behind the curtains, staff and managers frantically checking their lists to see if everything was already perfectly set up. Outside, the audience continued chanting her name and were eagerly excited to watch the performance. But even with this enthusiastic commotion, her nervous and questioning expression said otherwise. 

◇

The lieutenant was about to contact the council and call it a night, since there wasn’t much she could find in the area, sighing a little frustratingly while still looking around. As Nayeon waited for the other line to pick up, something dripping behind the large curtains of the stage caught her eye: she could tell it was clearly black spray paint.

♧

“Alright, everyone! This is the moment you’ve all been actively waiting for! She’s the most talented, adept, youthful, amazing, and all round trainee there _ ever _ was!!” The host’s shouting hyped up the audience even more as everything was still being prepared for the real introduction. 

The young singer was standing under a small platform, after being led by the managing director, which would be elevated upwards and slowly reveal her. Taking a deep breath, many thoughts were racing on how to do this accordingly without any slips or mistakes. The huge audience of crazy fans were still cheering and calling out her name. Although it was alleviating to have and she couldn’t be more grateful, there was still something that left a bad gut feeling inside. 

♡

Nayeon cautiously approached the curtains, eyes locked on the black paint as the distance grew shorter. The lieutenant grabbed ahold of the covering before fiercely yanking it aside, tearing it off entirely and revealed something never seen before: Limbo’s logo. 

“Oh my god….”

☆

“Now, behold…the extraordinarily young idol, _ HAN CHOWON!!!_” With that being announced, the platform finally rose as she carefully stood on it, afraid of suddenly losing balance. 

“_Han Chowon!! Han Chowon!! Han Chowon!!"_

Everyone kept chanting before cheering on immediately when they saw their favorite singer appearing from below the stage. It was a crazy moment for her as the second she sings, trainee life was no longer. Serene, harmonious melody began with an abbreviated piano playing and her mic was raised, starting the show…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this officially concludes the past arc with all of their flashbacks and so on. Now we move onto something deeper uwu


	24. The Idol

Inside one of the most active and assiduous corporations in South Korea, many employees were bustling around inside the magnificent architecture: 

_ Cosmic Corporations _

It’d been a successful establishment for years and continued to be in the current day. However, people weren’t sure what the company revolved around since the CEO merely brushed off being labeled as one thing. Instead, the stocks were apart of various other small companies, which basically made the establishment a conglomerate. One of the busy workers walked up to the CEO, who was busy arranging wines and other alcoholic beverages in neat rows at their local, currently empty bar. 

“Ms.Kim, there’s a rather urgent visitor in a red suit and blonde hair who would like to enter the grounds. Guards have tried excusing her because of hectic work hours, but she still resists.” The worker was practically sweating bullets from running all the way to this area from the entrance. He dabbed a handkerchief on his forehead as he waited for the supervisor to tell him what to do. 

“Visitors? Well what’s so bad about having some people over every once in a while? What does she want?”

“According to her, she wants to ‘get drunk’.” She suddenly burst into laughter, which slightly startled the tired employee. 

“I think I know who this person is. Let her in! I’ll be humbly serving some drinks.” 

With the odd answer, he hesitantly obeyed with a small nod before radioing the security guards his supervisor’s instructions. As the bar was still being set up, the CEO heard someone tapping on the counter where drinks were served, to get her attention. Turning around, she saw someone else who was blonde and was dressed in professional attire. She waved at the person who greeted her back and ordered the finest wine. This surprised her since that beverage was the most expensive booze on the menu. But, nonetheless, the CEO served it anyway and happily gave it to the patient customer. 

“So, what brings you here on this busy night?” She questioned with curiosity while cleaning a fancy glass cup with a rag. 

“I was basically forced to meet a friend in this place specifically.”

“Haha, that’s interesting. What’s your name?”

“Park Jiwon.” The blonde answered lazily, resting her chin on her palm. 

“Ah, welcome to this great establishment! People often visit this bar for its finest liquor, though not many can last because they get drunk way too easily.”

“I see.” Jiwon chuckled at the statement. “So an attraction for lightweight customers, hm?”

“Yep, we get that a lot around here.”

“You don’t have to worry about me getting drunk for sure, my tolerance is high enough.”

“Be my guest. That wine in your hand is the most pricey one, enjoy!” 

“Thank you. I do need some refresher as I wait for my irritating friend to get here.”

“I can’t wait to see her, too….” She muttered under her breath so Jiwon didn’t hear her say anything.

A temporarily peaceful silence commences in the bar as jazzy music played on the radio. The blonde was on her phone the whole time while expecting a certain hothead to finally arrive. After a while, the CEO decided to strike up a conversation again, asking what kind of job she has and mostly just about life in general. Jiwon kept them all vague since she liked to be private, but talking to the kind woman behind the bar counter had kept her mind off of the entire wait. And just then, the door burst open, revealing Jungeun in a red suit, with the tie loose and some buttons undone. Marching over to the counter, she quickly took a seat next to Jiwon, obviously feeling frustrated about the night and almost wanted to punch something.

“Seems like the ceremony was fun.” 

The older blonde took a casual sip, amused at Jungeun’s narrowing eyes at her. She contemplated on smacking the drink from Jiwon’s hand, but decided against it since she didn’t want to cause anymore trouble. Jokes aside, Jiwon could clearly see the tiredness in her expression.

“You’re really upset over this, huh?” She in a more serious tone, sipping slowly while Jungeun groaned.

“I come to her rescue and she doesn’t even leave with me….”

“Who?” 

“My girlfriend. You know Cha Juwon?”

“Yes obviously, I work for her, Eun.” Jiwon deadpanned, feeling like Jungeun should’ve known this by now with the lengthy time that they’ve been friends. “So what about her?”

“Long story short, she’s my girlfriend’s ex, I got into an argument with Juwon in front of her, she got pissed off about it and then ditched me to leave with her friends.” The older blonde spit out her drink at the summary. “What’re you laughing at???”

“Jungeun, your girlfriend’s a cop, she’s obviously going to stay and help with the crew, ya know? We both know Jiwoo pretty well, so of course she’d do that.

“I just don’t understand. All I did was just stroll in, confronted Juwon and—”

“There’s your mistake; never get into an argument with your girlfriend’s ex, Eun. Especially in front of her.” She arched an eyebrow at the younger and looked at her as if she had two heads.

“But—”

“Anyway, if you want to lay off the stress, have a drink already. Then you can properly rant.” Jiwon teasingly smiled at Jungeun, causing her to sigh. 

“Ugh, fine.” She tapped the table to alert the waiters for an order. “Pass me whiskey!” The older blonde rolled her eyes at how obnoxiously loud her friend was being. 

The CEO took her time to make Jungeun’s drink as she (im)patiently waited. The blonde in her red suit was constantly tapping her foot anxiously, trying to glance over and see if it’s almost finished. Once it was finally finished, the CEO turned around and Jungeun immediately recognized the familiar face, someone whom she’d never thought she would meet again so soon, since they were both quite busy with their lives. 

“Eunseo? The hell are you doing here??” The older playfully feigned offense by placing a hand on her chest and dramatically gasp.

“Um, I own this bar, first of all, as well as the entire ground that you’d just walked on to get here.” Eunseo smirked teasingly as Jungeun raised an eyebrow. “Also, is this how you greet your older sister? Come on, gimme a hug!” Before the younger could properly react, she was already pulled into a tight bear hug. Groaning, it felt like all the air in her lungs disappeared immediately. 

“Ow—! You can let go now!” Her voice expectedly strained with how constricted the embrace was. 

“Sorry.” Eunseo chuckled before letting go and grasping both of Jungeun’s shoulders. “I missed you, lil sis! We’ve been so caught up with work nowadays.”

“Wow, I would’ve never thought you two were sisters.” Jiwon gave her friend an incredulous look at the new information, to which the younger blonde merely rolled her eyes. 

“Unnie, we saw each other a few weeks ago.”

“Still not soon enough! We have a lot to catch up on.”

“Fine whatever. And since when did you become a CEO?”

“Years ago!”

“HUH? You never told me about this!”

“I thought you knew.”

“Jungeun, how can you not know, Eunseo’s been in the business industry since four years ago.”

“But how did you even do that at such a young age?” The CEO merely blinked at her sister’s question. 

“Did you forget how rich we are, Jungie? And besides, it was actually pretty easy. Just sign contracts, buy stocks, get partnerships, and voalá, you got yourself a company!”

“Wow…you’re something.” She was quite amazed at the older’s accomplishments and also wondered how their parents felt when they found out about Eunseo’s life. 

“Anyways, it seems like you need to blow off some steam, so I’ll leave you two at it.” Jungeun sighed as her sister went elsewhere to prepare for more drinks, lowkey appreciating the consideration. 

“Your family must be chaotic, Eun.” Jiwon lightly teased and laughed a little. 

“I mean, you’re not totally wrong.”

“Welp, aside from that, let’s discuss your interesting time in the ceremony. What do you want to rant about, hm?”

“Ugh…a lot actually.”

“Tell me.”

“I don’t know, I just…thought Juwon should’ve learned to think about Jiwoo’s feelings more and not hurt her. Sure, she wanted to become a CEO, but I don’t understand why she had to go overseas. There are also opportunities here for her.”

“That’s what you’re bugging about? You know there are more benefits to studying abroad, right?”

“Yeah but still, Jiwoo—”

“Accepted the fact that Juwon wanted to study abroad and become a business woman. It’s not that deep, Jungeun. You’re overthinking and being too irrational about this.”

Sighing again, she considered the idea some more and reluctantly agreed. “You’re right…I may have um…told Juwon that Jiwoo and I are dating?” There was a brief moment of silence. 

“…you did not….”

“I-I did—”

“JUNGEUN.”

“WHAT?”

“I didn’t think you’d go any lower than that! The woman just got back!”

“I know, I know, it was an asshole move!”

“Did you just blurt it out or something??”

“Uh—maybe…?”

“Oh my god.”

“I know I made them both upset…and I hate it when Jiwoo’s upset with me.” Jungeun pouted into the rim of her glass. 

“Well, you messed up big. The least you can do is apologize and make it up to her somehow.” Jiwon suggested as the younger groaned again, ordering more whiskey from another bartender.

“Ok ok, I will. I just don’t understand why she’s still soft towards Juwon….like she came back thinking everything is still all rainbows and sunshine." 

Jiwon merely rolled her eyes as Jungeun continued to ramble, not feeling the need to say anymore and just listen, though occasionally popping in to talk. The two friends continued socializing and somewhat bickering for the next hour, not noticing a new person strolled into the bar and took about four seats from them. The person glanced towards them with an arched brow, concerned at their partially boisterous argument. But since it was just them inside, the newcomer shrugged before tapping the table. Within seconds, Eunseo came from behind the shelves of alcoholic drinks, immediately smiling when she saw the familiar face. 

“Hey! I was expecting you, how was the show?”

“It was alright. Not really in a festive mood though.”

“Aw, what’s gotten you so down, Chowonnie?”

“Much is going on.” The newly debuted, young idol kept her answer vague and simple.

“You still had fun though, right? You’re a new role model for your peers and kids younger than you!” Eunseo enthusiastically exclaimed, which made Chowon chuckle, but still remain expressionless. 

“I guess. It’s supposed to be a really fun and happy night for me, but I just don’t feel it.”

“Why not?” She saw how the CEO frowned with obvious concern. Chowon only wished the one from her label was the same as Eunseo. 

“Um…I uh…can’t really explain it without sounding weird.”

“Don’t worry, I’m always here to listen.”

“H-how about another time?” The idol subtly glanced over at the entrance, clearly feeling uneasy though she seemed calm. 

“Alright, alright next time. Are you feeling thirsty?” Chowon cleared her throat before nodding. 

“Actually yes.”

“Great! Because I have a special edition for you.” Eunseo disappeared under the counter momentarily before appearing back with a fancy glass pot of apple juice, which made the younger girl laugh. 

The CEO cracked an amused smile before pouring it in a glass cup for Chowon, who took a sip of it. Shortly afterwards, both of her eyebrows rose up in surprise at how fresh and delicious it was. “Wow, this might be the best apple juice I’ve ever had, though to be fair, I haven’t drank one for so long.”

Eunseo chuckled and shrugged. “Eh, I’m flattered anyway.” She set the glass pot aside and leaned on the counter with her elbow, smiling at Chowon enjoying the apple juice. “So what brings you here?”

“Oh, just some important questions.”

“Ahh interviewing me?” Eunseo lightly teased, causing the younger to giggle a little but shook her head. 

“It’s for something important. For me, at least.”

“Ask away.”

“What kind of company do you run exactly?”

“That’s a very common question I get. But to put it briefly, my company is basically a little bit of everything. Ranges from kid’s toys, sports gear, makeup products, games, and the list goes on! We also manage a popular food business, Cosmic Nature. This very bar exclusively serves alcoholic beverages from it. Oh, and better yet, we manage our own health care and car insurance; The Orion Life.” 

Chowon sat there with wide eyes and gaping mouth, shocked beyond belief that Eunseo could even manage so many companies at once and being in charge of it all. She was utterly amazed because she never expected to meet the CEO of everything that her family had practically depended on with their life a few years ago. But overall, Chowon thought it was amazing how one could accomplish many things within a short span of time since it would usually take longer. After finishing her glass of apple juice, she set it down to speak again.

“That’s so unbelievable….”

Although she’d grown used to that reaction, Eunseo found it more alleviating when kids Chowon’s age were always completely speechless and fascinated whenever she explained how her business worked. “Don’t sound too surprised.” Chuckling before refilling the younger’s cup. 

“It’s just so—incredible! My parents and siblings love your products! And well, so do I.” 

“Aye, I’m glad! The main purpose of my business is to help those in need.”

“See? That’s really amazing, you should give yourself some more credit.” Chowon was even more in disbelief at how humble Eunseo was. “Do you think you’ll expand your company even more?”

“Hm, I’ve been contemplating that actually. I just do whatever I want and be done with it, but we’ve run out of ideas.”

“Oh. Perhaps you’d aim for the entertainment industry more?” 

“Ah, I think I’ve already gotten enough like movies, games, sports, etc.”

“But…what about music?” Chowon questioned in a more hushed voice, almost like she was trying to stay as quiet as possible. Eunseo found it odd but didn’t bother about it too much. 

“Aahh, music. That’s a bit tricky though because of the intense competition. You have to recruit real people who could be the best or above average to really catch attention. And nowadays, the entertainment has been tougher than ever, especially in music compared to movies and video games.”

“You were able to pull off becoming a whole conglomerate, so music shouldn’t be too hard….”

“I’d really love to honestly, but I’ll have to be ready for anything.”

“So then, by the time you create an entertainment, what kind of music are you starting with?”

“Oh, I really love space and fantasy stuff, so maybe a fairy and some astronomical theme.”

“That’s cool, I’d actually like to do something like that, too.”

“Why do you ask about entertainment?” Chowon merely stayed silent for a moment before speaking again. 

“I um…I just feel like I don’t fit in my company.” Her eyes averted towards the entrance as if she was carefully checking something. “My contract is still for another three years and I’m not sure if I can last that long.”

“What do you mean?”

“N-nothing…well uh…since you’re well connected, it won’t be hard when you finally figure it out. Until then Ms.Kim, goodnight.”

Without another word, Chowon sighed and got off her chair, quickly exiting the bar as Eunseo stood there bewildered. She was just about to call the young idol’s name again, but she’d already disappeared behind the door. The CEO scratched her head and arched an eyebrow at what had happened. Chowon was just bright and happy to suddenly being emotionless like when she entered. It brought a weird feeling to Eunseo, unable to pinpoint exactly what it was. Sighing, she decided to think about it later and walked over to the spot where Jungeun and Jiwon were sitting, only to be surprised to see her younger sister utterly drunk. The CEO had to stop herself from taking out her phone and filming the whole thing because she knew Jungeun would basically murder her, but it was so tempting. She and Jiwon held in their laughs when they saw how sappy the young blonde was. 

Jungeun was slurring some lyrics to a song they couldn’t recognize, which made it even funnier because she was completely unaware of how ridiculous she looked. When the blonde loudly burped out of nowhere, both Eunseo and Jiwon could no longer contain themselves and cackled immediately after hearing it. Jungeun, even while drunk, was startled at their boisterous laughter before giggling herself, having no idea what they were amused by. The night continued on from there….

  
  



	25. Night Brawl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New character card designs! Uwu
> 
> Also TW// violence and blood ahead

The sweet, amiable scent of fresh coffee was what attracted many to local cafes, especially the most visited ones in the heart of Seoul. Residents and tourists often hung out in these areas after hearing about all the massive media attention about the cafes. Though tonight, it was oddly more crowded than usual. However, that wasn’t much of a problem for Ryujin and Chaeryeong, who were on their lovely date as they walked hand in hand to search for some place to enjoy their time together. 

Ryujin had recently gotten her driver’s license that’d been working on for a while. It was mostly for herself to get around more easily (also to impress Chaeryeong). The younger girl was so ecstatic when she found out, loudly cheering and flashing a bright smile before giving a bear hug. Additionally, that was a reminder to Ryujin of how strong her girlfriend truly was with the amount of times they spent at the gym together and that she should prepare next time, before her spine would become nonexistent. Traffic was indeed a difficult obstacle for them to get where they were now, but luckily, it ended quicker than they expected. Chaeryeong was especially excited for this date since she and Ryujin hadn’t been on one for a while because they were so busy with work. 

Prior to the ride here, the two had agreed to find a place once they got to the bustling area because there were so many good restaurants that they couldn’t pick one. The lovebirds slightly swung their hands back and forth, smiling giddly until Ryujin pointed out one of the cafes. Chaeryeong immediately agreed and they were immediately greeted with the sweet scent of coffee frappuccino, as well as other savory beverages. Surprisingly enough, they quickly found a table and waited for the waiters to take their orders. 

“Wow, this menu sounds like it has a lot of good drinks.”

“I know, right? I’m definitely getting the Chocolate Mocha.” Chaeryeong informed with a giddy smile before looking at the options again.

Ryujin chuckled at how adorable the younger was before taking their orders when the waiter finally came. Ryujin ordered a cappuccino, along with some pancakes when they both agreed to buy something to eat. Afterwards, they continued gossiping about the things in their work and general life, as well as possibly meeting up with other friends again. The younger then brought up meeting Ryujin’s family awhile back and how they’d greatly found her amazing, basically emphasizing quite subtly how they want the two to get married. Needless to day, Ryujin grew embarrassed of them for suddenly suggesting that, but it did make her think whether or not they’d do it eventually and who would be the one proposing. 

Chaeryeong found the memory adorable and amusing, on the other hand, because she was now close with her girlfriend’s family. She remembered when Ryujin’s parents told stories about her childhood, ups and downs, before revealing how she came out to them. It warmed her heart when hearing about them accepting Ryujin no matter what she was. Chaeryeong then went onto mention how much of an amazing girlfriend Ryujin was for her, which made especially made the older’s parents proud, but nonetheless, they expected her to be courteous and well-mannered with the way they’d raised her. After awhile of socializing, their drinks and food finally arrived as the waitress carefully set them down. Upon first sip, Chaeryeong’s eyes immediately lit up, amusing Ryujin. 

“It’s good?” 

“_So _ good. Try it!” Just as predicted, her reaction was the same. 

“Oh wow, that’s amazing! We should definitely come back here later on.”

“Yes please, this cafe is perfect for dates.” They both giggled at Chaeryeong’s comment. 

“Let’s try the pancakes now.”

“Oh, can I pour the syrup?” She questioned with puppy eyes, which Ryujin couldn’t resist one bit

“Of course! Just be careful, it’s a bit heavy.” 

“Yay~” Gripping the small pot full maple syrup with two hands, Chaeryeong tipped it over the fluffy pancakes as they stared in awe at how beautiful it was. “Wow, that was so satisfying.” The older chuckled.

“You wanna take a pic?”

“Sure!” She quickly grabbed the utensils and Ryujin held up her phone. 

“Smile~” 

Ryujin cooed, looking through the camera at Chaeryeong, who was posing for the photo with her fork and knife. The girl did as told and Ryujin broke into a grin as well. This was a much needed break from their busy schedules and it was already doing wonders. Ryujin can’t remember the last time she felt this carefree, ignoring the stack of assignments abandoned on her desk that flitted briefly into her thoughts. She snapped the picture before smiling at the result and setting it as her lockscreen. Chaeryeong smiled shyly at the action before cutting into her stack of pancakes.

“By the way, Ryu. There’s something I’ve been wanting to mention.”

“What is it?”

“You should meet my family sometime!” The sudden suggestion made her slightly choke on her beverage. This went unnoticed by Chaeryeong, surprisingly.

“Y-your family?”

“Yeah, they’ll definitely love you.” She said with much enthusiasm, but Ryujin didn’t really share it and was rather frightened at the thought of it.

“Um—well, uh…when will this be?”

“Anytime everyone’s free, my parents just work in the hospital 24/7, but they should be getting their break soon. I’m not sure about Chaeyeon-unnie though…” Chaeryeong sighed, resting her chin in her palm while thinking about her family’s incredibly busy life. Especially her older sister, which was abnormal for her age. 

Ryujin, on the other hand, shivered when she heard Chaeyeon’s name being mentioned. “Y-yeah. Actually, about that…” 

“Hm?” This was going to be embarrassing.

“I’m scared of your sister.” Reading her girlfriend’s eyes, Chaeyreong was really hoping that statement was a joke…but she was actually serious. 

“You’re scared of Chaeyeon-unnie??” The younger was in utter disbelief. 

“Well she’s frightening, ok? I can’t even _ look _ at her without running away.”

“Ryujinnie, it’ll be fine! I’ve told them a lot about you and how much you make me happy.” She placed her hands over the older’s, holding them tenderly. “You’re a lovable person and I promise you, Chaeyeon-unnie will be pleased.” 

Smiling gratefully, Ryujin held up Chaeryeong’s hand and gently kissed it. “Thank you, babe.”

The younger shyly chuckled. “I should thank you, too.” They both leaned over and shared a peck before continuing on with their romantic date. 

A girl in a school uniform, standing by the reception counter, watched the couple with a soft gaze, smiling as she carefully grabbed her mug of tea and thanked the waitress. The couple reminded her of those couple channels on youtube with how cute they were being. She turned her gaze away to walk over to her table. The girl sat there and kept herself busy by surfing through the web while waiting for someone. The news these days was fascinatingly bizarre and peaked her interest. She decided to play detective a little bit and see what kind of cases real authorities were trying to solve. There were especially lots of investigations happening more in Daegu recently, which sparked rumors that something more sinister was going on in the big city. Thinking about this, it made the school girl sad as she looked at her uniform.

_ It’s getting much harder living there… _

Even though it was already so difficult, she wouldn’t have been able to stay in Daegu if it weren’t for her older cousin, whom she loved very much like an older sister. The young girl occasionally looked up from her phone to see if the person she was meeting finally arrived. However, it was hard to search since there were a lot of customers today. She was about to continue going through the internet when there was a sudden tap on the table, startling her. Looking up, the school girl was relieved to see her older cousin. 

“Minkyung-unnie!” She hugged the older immediately upon meeting her eyes and was greatly surprised to see her new look. “Wow, you had a haircut? You look amazing!” 

This made her chuckle. “Thanks, Bada.” 

The younger then leaned her head to the side and frowned when she also noticed something strange through Minkyung’s glasses. “Hey unnie, did you get blue lense?”

“What do you mean?”

“Your eyes are blue.”

“Oh. Uh yeah, my friend thought I looked cool.”

“Wow~ you really do!” Minkyung chuckled at her Bada’s enthusiasm.

“Anyways, did you wait long?”

“No, I arrived a few minutes ago. Here! Come sit.” 

They both sat on their seats and looked through the menu. By the time they finished ordering, one of the waitresses approached their table when she noticed that Bada wasn’t alone anymore. After listing the two orders, she walked away to inform her coworkers so they can make the beverages. Meanwhile, Minkyung and Bada were busy talking about their lives and what they were up to. 

“How’s school going? Are you having any trouble with homework?”

“I’m good actually, the materials are getting easier, surprisingly.”

“Guessing you don't need that much help then.”

“Aw unnie, I’ve already had enough help and I don’t wanna bother you.”

“Yah, you’re not a bother, ok? Don’t be afraid to ask.”

“Fine~ if you insist.” Bada sighed and looked around in the beautiful, crowded cafe as a topic suddenly appeared in her mind. “Oh! Unnie.

“Hm?”

“Have you seen the news lately?” Minkyung arched an eyebrow at this while silently signalling for her younger cousin to continue. “The latest articles regarding the recent incident during the ceremony are fascinating. I have a slight feeling there might be more to the story, like a deeper meaning.” Bada explained so thoughtfully that it gave Minkyung the chills. 

“Why are you looking through them?

“Just to investigate them and play detective.” Bada smiled innocently, completely unaware of the older’s growing paranoia. Minkyung had on a cold stone face while thinking about some things that had happened a while ago. 

“You want to be a cop or what?”

“I’ve been thinking about it. I get tired of seeing all the bad things happening every now and then, so I want to help stop crime, too.”

“Hm. That’s good. You should attend the academy then.”

“Oooh the one down near Seoul High School?” Minkyung nodded as her answer. “Have you been to it before?” Bada questioned with curiosity and was quite enthusiastic about it.

“Uh…sure, yeah.”

“I heard they have dorms there, too. It feels like a dream school for kids like me.” The young girl placed both hands on her cheeks and rested her elbows on the table, sighing as she imagined herself training rigorously to become a police officer. 

“So you’ve been thinking about this for the longest time?” Minkyung did her best to keep calm and just talk casually. 

“Yeah, but only like last year. There were so many bank robberies and fights everywhere!” Bada practically shuddered just thinking of the times when the news constantly reported numerous cases of them.

“Hm, you said it.” Shortly afterwards, there was a sudden pain in her abdomen stung harshly out of nowhere. Minkyung groaned audibly while clutching her stomach. 

“Oh unnie, are you ok??”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine…just some cramps.”

“Do you need to go to the doctor’s?”

“No, don’t worry about it.”

“Alright…if it happens again—”

“It won’t.”

Minkyung didn’t say anything else, not wanting to continue the conversation as their orders finally arrived. The older woman changed the topic and let Bada rant on about school life. It was nonetheless amusing to see her little cousin complain about the teachers and some of her peers, though Minkyung secretly planned in her mind to deal with them personally later on. The older occasionally popped in to comment on something and then stayed silent for the rest of Bada’s talking, merely sitting there while sipping on her green tea. An hour or so quickly passed by and Minkyung only realized when she looked at the time, which noted that Bada had to go home now.

With that being said, they finished the last of their drinks and Minkyung called a waitress over to see the check. The younger girl had insisted on paying with her but was ignored as Minkyung led her outside. Upon exiting, streets were packed with cars and numerous people roamed on the sidewalk. The older woman had her arm around Bada’s shoulder, leading her towards a car.

“You get home safe, alright? I’ll be there after a while because I need to take care of some business, so tell Yaebin not to wait for me. And by the time I’m back, you better be in bed for school tomorrow.”

“Yes, ma’am!” She playfully saluted, causing Minkyung to chuckle for a bit. 

Entering back inside, her eyes laid upon the large cabinets displaying various unique mug designs, as well as the rotating, circular shelf that also had mugs in it. They both stood across each other so Minkyung stood in between them, looking at both shelves in awe at the beautiful coffee cups. Bada suddenly came into her mind, which immediately gave her the idea to purchase a mug for the younger girl as a gift. Though this was proven difficult as Minkyung gazed through the various designs, many of them seemed like Bada would want. After a while of choosing cutest ones, Minkyung looked between them to determine which one was the best. 

She deeply thought back to the times when they both hung out together and tried to remember what kind of color and animal Bada liked. Finally coming to a conclusion, Minkyung decided on the pink bunny mug and reached out for it. 

But when she laid her hand on the cup, someone else had wanted the same thing as well, causing their hands to touch. But it was a person Minkyung never expected to see: Shin Ryujin. A few minutes ago, the younger girl was also searching for a coffee mug to gift for Chaeryeong so their date could be more fun. Her girlfriend was on a call with her mom, so she decided to wander around the cabinets of ceramic cups when she noticed the taller woman glancing at the displays as well. Ryujin merely assumed it was just some stranger who wanted to buy a mug like her, therefore, she didn’t bother and continued to look for one that Chaeryeong would like. She wanted to buy a mug for her in order to make their date more fun, so Ryujin initially didn’t recognize her because of her short hair and round glasses. 

Ryujin raised an eyebrow upon seeing another hand reaching for the same cup she was and looked towards the person, only to be shocked when Kim Minkyung was right in front of her. She, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes and was utterly displeased to be the exact place as an officer who could arrest her at this moment. 

“You’re…Kim Minkyung. That mole—”

“Don’t. Do. **Anything**.” The cold, dark glare shot through Ryujin’s soul. “I’m warning you.”

Clearing her throat, the younger girl gulped nervously but kept her composure the best she could. “Not very smart of you to be out in the open like this, even if you’ve merely had a haircut. Surely you’re aware that your name is on the most wanted list by authorities.” Ryujin shot back the glare, but it only agitated Minkyung more.

“Like I give a fuck. I’m not doing any harm, so get the hell out of here and pretend you never saw me.”

“You know very well I can’t do that.”

“…your life will be spared.” It only seemed like her eyes were growing darker and more sinister as the seconds passed by. Ryujin immediately noticed the tints of blue that were suddenly glowing in her eyes for a second before turning back to the normal deep brown color.

The younger frowned upon seeing this while also contemplating whether or not she should just risk her life and arrest the dangerous criminal. But knowing her oath to the police force, there was no turning back now. She took a deep breath and exhaled, “then so be it.” 

Back in their table, Chaeryeong was currently messaging her mom about what they were currently up to. She giggled happily when the responses consisted of heart spamming and the mother awing every time Chaeryeong sent a cute photo of her and Ryujin posing in front of cool architectures. There was one where they shared a kiss, which her mother greatly loved to see and spammed even more hearts that made Chaeryeong’s phone lag a little. After saying goodbye to each other, she turned off her device and patiently waited for Ryujin to get back in her seat so they could pay for their drinks. 

The young couple had planned to visit a restaurant somewhere around the city during their coffee date. Chaeryeong couldn’t help but smile like a dork as she sipped her Chocolate Mocha through the straw. A few minutes into waiting, she started to wonder what took Ryujin so long. Chaeryeong was about to get up from her seat while having the same question in her mind. However, it was answered in the most violent way possible. 

Ryujin abruptly flew into her sight as she entirely crashed into the circular shelf full of mugs, toppling over with various cups shattering to the ground. The fall was brutal as Ryujin received some cuts through her jeans and sweater. Chaeryeong and everyone else screamed in shock at this, but she was quick to be by her now injured girlfriend’s side.

“Ryujinnie! Are you ok?!”

Groaning, the said girl tried propping herself on an elbow. Afterwards, she carefully placed her hand on Chaeryeong’s shoulder. “Babe, you need to get out of here _ now_.” 

The younger frowned at how dead serious she looked. “W-why?” 

Cautiously looking towards her right, she glanced upwards at the towering figure who had tossed Ryujin into the cabinet like some ragdoll. And to her horror, Chaeryeong’s eyes met Minkyung’s fiery glare. Yelping, she immediately cowered away from fear, very well aware of her crimes from a while ago. Chaeryeong was heartbroken when she heard what'd happened to Saerom and the other girls, so being in the same building as the main culprit was a nightmare come true. Ryujin carefully sat up, gripping her girlfriend’s arm to whisper something into her. 

“Call my captain, backup, anyone, quickly!” With a frantic voice, she shoved a phone into Chaeryeong’s hands before gingerly getting up on her feet, wiping the little blood dripping from her lip. She took a deep breath once more. 

“**EVACUATE!!**”

It seemed like the world instantly switched to auto mode. Every citizen in the nation knew exactly what that meant, so without anymore words, the cafe was vacant within a few seconds as many scattered outside for safety. The blonde girl was hesitant to leave Ryujin behind to deal with Minkyung alone, especially after being violently thrown into the cabinet full of valuable mugs. But not forgetting her words, Chaeryeong immediately phoned for the person that Ryujin had requested; someone who never bat an eye when facing danger. 

———

Soft radio static was the only thing heard in the quiet office as there was only a person still working, merely minding her own business. Everyone in the station had already gone home for the day to get some rest, so it was just her in the office. The woman was busy trying to fix her walkie talkie that suddenly shorted out when she was in the middle of a conversation with Nayeon. The lieutenant was telling her something about finding a mafia logo out of nowhere as the investigation team was at the sight. She’d turned on the news to see the report about the discovery, chuckling in amusement when Nayeon was flustered and being interviewed on live TV. 

It’d been an hour since the woman started fixing the walkie talkie, looking at the batteries, hardware, and the little wires inside. She was close to just giving up, contemplating on purchasing a replacement. However, to her luck, the static noise suddenly stopped, which made her freeze for a bit. She pressed on the button and spoke.

“Hello?” There was no answer on the other side. The woman tapped its side with a finger before listening in again. “Is anyone there?” Silence ensued again, causing her to sigh. She was about a few seconds away from turning it off when someone suddenly shouted. 

_ “BOO!!” _ A terrified scream followed it immediately after as she flinched back in her seat, hands over her ears. Nayeon was laughing on the other end. _ “I got you good! HAHAHA!” _

“The hell was that for??”

_ “Fun.” _ It felt like she said it with an evil smirk, which only pissed the woman off even more. 

“When I see you next time, I’ll kick your ass.”

_ “Geez, Yooa. Catch a break, will ya?” _

“Easy for you to say, Nayeon.” 

_ “Why are you on the walkie talkie at this time anyway?” _

“Cause I was fixing the damn thing. It suddenly stopped working when I was still talking to you earlier today.”

_ “Oh, I see. I’m guessing it works now.” _

“Yeah. And what are YOU using your walkie talkie for?”

_ “It started making static noise just now, so I turned it on and heard you speak. I really had to scare you.” _ Nayeon followed with a giggle.

“Ugh, asshole.” She muttered under her breath while also planning to get her friend back later on. “Anyways, are you home yet?”

_ “Yep, about an hour ago. Today was so exhausting.” _

“I saw you on TV, you looked like a deer in headlights.” Yooa smiled, amused when Nayeon stood in front of the camera with visible fear in her expression.

_ “Whatever, I was never prepared for an interview, first off.” _

“Well you did your deed anyways. How’d you find it?”

_ “Just turned around, saw the black paint, took down the whole curtain, and the entire thing was on the wall. You think this could mean something? _

“Hm, I don’t know. I have my suspicions, but a lot is happening right now.”

_ “There’s this gut feeling…it’s hard to explain. Remember all of those brawls and bank robberies we were investigating?” _

“Ugh yeah, there were way too many.”

_ “Exactly. It’s too much to be coincidence at this point. _

“Wait…then the night of the ceremony crash, what was their intention?” Yooa reflected on the case more, thinking deeply as to what Limbo would be doing. “Did they steal anything?” The question was seemingly obvious. And well, it was. 

_ “Yeah…the projector containing the software ‘Argus Lethe,’ created the company with the same name, Argus.” _

“How does the software work? And why would Limbo want to steal it?”

_ “It was created for security purposes because it could scan anyone’s face and their information would be listed out.” _

“Wow, that’s technology nowadays?”

_ “Yep, it’s time to catch up, Yooa.” _ Nayeon lightly teased as she audibly chuckled as the older woman rolled her eyes. 

“Hey, don’t forget we’re literally the same age and five days apart.”

_ “Ok, ok, anyways, back to the point.” _

“Right. So, with that being said, Limbo is clearly aware of the software’s abilities, but I can’t figure out what they would use it for.”

_ “True. But whatever it is, it’s obviously not something good.” _

Sighing at the thought, Yooa began stressing out about what Limbo would do with Lethe, knowing the mysterious type of mafia they were. “We should hold a meeting with the council and see what we can—” Before Yooa could continue on, her phone suddenly buzzed noisily, startling both her and Nayeon.

_ “Everything ok there?” _

“Yeah, it’s just my phone. Talk later?”

_ “Alright, see you.” _

They both switched off their walkie talkies, allowing her to answer the sudden call. Yooa looked to see who it was, only to be surprised it was her junior, Ryujin. With a quick tap of the answer button, she picked it up to hear what the young girl wanted to say. But instead of who she initially expected, it was Chaeryeong instead. 

_ “Yooa sunbaenim!!” _

“Hey! What’s up?” Yooa mistakenly thought she sounded excited. 

_ “There’s trouble in Seoul! Ryujin needs your help!!” _

“W-wait what? What’s going on?!”

_ “MINKYUNG!” _

Now highly alerted, the captain immediately stood from her seat and got suited up in her police uniform. Yooa made sure Chaeryeong was still with her after the speaker had been turned on, which allowed the older woman to hear various glasses smashing, furniture being destroyed and people murmuring and screaming. Ryujin was clearly fighting against someone twice her size so Yooa quickly dressed up, grabbed her car keys and hastily booked it for the exit. Once the vehicle was ignited, the captain stomped on the pedal before speeding out of the vacant parking lot and into the streets…

———

The brawl had been going on for about an hour now and it didn’t seem like it was stopping soon, despite both of them being wounded badly here and there. Ryujin suffered multiple bruises and cuts on her face and limbs, same with Minkyung. The side effects of the blue serum were extremely unhelpful in her cause. The older girl hadn’t fought since the infamous fight in Saerom’s station, so she’d been having the untreated side effects for a while. Minkyung always insisted she was fine, but until now, she was mad at herself for not taking medical attention sooner. But it wasn’t like anyone expected this. She and Ryujin met by the worst coincidence ever because the area they were currently battling in didn’t even look like a cafe anymore. 

Minkyung cleanly punching Ryujin into the nearest table, causing her to stagger on her feet, wincing in pain. Finding a spare chair, Minkyung used it to jump in the air and landed a harsh kick into Ryujin’s abdomen, sending the girl falling back and rolling over. But she frantically got to dodge the same chair that came crashing down on the previous spot she was in. Ryujin rolled again onto her side and successfully got out of the way as the chair was now obliterated. Minkyung had clearly slammed it down with the wooden parts she was still holding in her hands. Getting onto her feet again, Ryujin charged at the older and spun around with a leg up, landing a perfect kick to her face. Stumbling back, Minkyung bumped into the wall, more blood drawing from her lips. 

She carefully wiped it away before looking down at her hand. Anger instantly sparked as she glared at Ryujin, who was panting while still in a fighting position. Within seconds, a sudden surge of energy rushed through her veins as they turned into a deep navy color. The pupils in Minkyung’s eyes slowly became bright blue, shocking Ryujin as she stood there frozen, watching the sight unfold before her.

In a single blink of an eye, Minkyung disappeared, startling the officer as she quickly glanced around to see where her opponent went. She patted her back pocket for the taser she usually kept there while on patrol but to no avail. She had left it all behind to be truly carefree for this date. However, Ryujin abruptly felt sharp pain on her abdomen from a heavy punch to her gut, sending her flying and crashing into the counter. Groaning from pain, the officer clutched onto her stomach and tried not to cough up a little blood. 

“Ow…what the hell was that…?”

Minkyung eerily approached the injured girl on the ground, smirking when she saw how helpless Ryujin looked. “I’m surprised they made a weakling like you a lousy officer.” She then grabbed ahold of the younger’s collar and lifted her up into the air. Shocked by the sudden action, Ryujin tried to pry the hand off of her sweater by grabbing at her wrist, but it was to no avail. 

“P-put me down!” The officer’s legs flailed around, trying to land a kick. The move was quite useless, to say the least, since she was already injured enough.

“Oh I’ll put you down, alright.” Minkyung worded with a rather sinister meaning, her first raised. 

But just when she was about to strike and commit the worst crime of all, a chair was slammed onto her back, causing it to break into pieces. Behind her stood Chaeryeong, who was still shaking in fear and eyes were wide at what she just did. Especially with the way Minkyung peered over her shoulder and glared menacingly at the timid girl. She clumsily stumbled backwards onto the ground, hastily crawling away from Minkyung. The older let go of Ryujin’s collar and dropped her from her grasp before approaching Chaeryeong. 

“You made a big mistake.”

“U-uh—sorry…?” She almost slapped herself for saying something like that during the brink of her death. But the last thing anyone expected was for Minkyung to pull out her pocket knife. 

“Say sorry to this.” 

Chaeryeong gasped when the sharp weapon was raised high, only to suddenly strike down without hesitation. She screamed and put her arm to protectively over her face. However, the attack never came as Ryujin was quick to intervene, tackling her to the ground roughly. Both were greatly injured by this, especially the officer. Minkyung pulled the knife away from Ryujin, but soon they were both wrestling each other for it. During the scuffle, Chaeryeong tried to help her girlfriend, but it was proven quite difficult when she was unintentionally knocked with a single punch from Minkyung. Ryujin grew extremely furious with this, allowing her adrenaline to kick in. After some struggling, however, the younger was practically expected to lose as Minkyung easily pried her wrist out of her grasp. Ryujin was pinned down by the collar and held at knifepoint by her neck. And for the first time in her life, she felt vulnerable. 

“Any last words, rat?” 

“…go to hell, bitch.” Minkyung smirked.

Accepting her ultimate fate, Ryujin silently uttered her last loving message to Chaeryeong and everyone she was grateful for before closing her eyes, taking her last breath in this damned world as everything seemed to slow down. But little did the officer know, there was still one more fighter. Just then, out of nowhere, Minkyung was harshly kicked off of Ryujin as Yooa practically came flying into her rescue. She was nonetheless shocked to see her captain so suddenly. The universe was on Ryujin’s side after all. 

“You had one hell of a fight.” Yooa chuckled at the younger girl’s expression. “Leave this to me, kid.”

It was Minkyung’s turn to groan in pain. She carefully stood up straight, still clutching her side. “Who the fuck are you?”

The fierce captain glared at her new opponent, before getting into a fighting position. “For a mole, I figured you’d know who I am while being apart of the police force for three years.”

“Keep flattering yourself then….” She immediately charged at Yooa and swung her weapon, which were constantly dodged. 

Minkyung was too busy using her knife to notice the opponent analyzing all of her moves. This went on for a while, sometimes physically striking each other. The captain swiftly ducked Minkyung’s roundhouse kick and instantly retaliated with a jump kick. Yooa fought back again by punching her face hard before grabbing Minkyung’s arm and judo flipped the woman over her back. She landed brutally on the ground, nearly being knocked out as a result. Only then, Minkyung realized the blue serum’s effect was simmering down. Although she was mad with herself, the knife was still surprisingly in her free hand, so she took advantage of it and landed a quick cut on Yooa’s calf. The captain yelped at the sudden pain in her leg and stumbled to the ground. 

Now fully free from her opponent’s grip, Minkyung quickly stood up and charged at Yooa once again, raising her weapon. But before she could even do anything besides that, the captain instinctively slammed her foot into her stomach and fended Minkyung away. It was then followed with yet another punch to the face, nearly knocking her out as she fell to the floor. Panting, Yooa approached Minkyung, who was now laying down because of the weariness, and towered over her. 

“Kim Minkyung….” The captain continued panting, her heavy breathing audible. “You are under arrest…for felony fight…and attempted murder.” 

She kicked the other woman over on her stomach before kneeling down to clip on the handcuffs. Then, just in the nick of time, more police cars finally arrived on the scene, causing Yooa to be distracted momentarily. However, it was somehow long enough for Minkyung to free her other hand and turn around to smack the captain straight in the face, knocking her away. Once free, she quickly stood up and sped away as far as possible. Yooa couldn’t get up on time to even chase her down and was stopped by Chaeryeong. 

“S-sunbaenim.” The captain frowned when she heard the girl’s strained voice, like she was on the verge of tears. Yooa quickly turned around to see what was wrong. “Ryujin—”

That was when her heart stopped upon seeing a pool of blood and Chaeryeong covering the side of the officer’s back, where there was an obvious stab wound. As calmly as possible, she kneeled to the ground, taking off her uniform jacket to wrap around Ryujin, who was struggling to breath. After securely tying the garment, Yooa immediately carried the younger officer under her arms before rushing outside, Chaeryeong closely following behind to make sure Ryujin was still awake and breathing. Other cops quickly rushed into the scene and searched for Minkyung while some helped their fellow officer’s wound. As instructed by the captain’s orders, an ambulance was requested. 

Luckily enough one quickly arrived within minutes and Ryujin was taken to the hospital with Yooa and Chaeryeong towing along. The young officer felt her vision darken before she sank into slumber, the last thing she saw were nurses frantically trying to stop the bleeding and Chaeryeong holding her hand before everything went silent.

The event made national headlines.


	26. Cooking Fail

Hyunjin, along with Heejin and Chaewon, were on their way to her house as she drove through the lively streets, being careful as it was night time and it was raining just hours ago. The two detectives had decided to invite Chaewon along so they could comfort her after the whole emotional roller coaster about Hyejoo. Yeji had left early to go home before this trip because she wanted to rest, so they bid farewell temporarily. After a while through traffic, Hyunjin finally reached her house and parked just outside.

“When are you actually going to use your bike, Kim? People can steal it if you just leave it there.”

“I’m going to one day. We’ve been very busy with the case, in case you’ve forgotten.”

Rolling her eyes, Heejin opened the door on her side, gently dragging Chaewon along as they exited the vehicle. They all walked up the small steps as Hyunjin quickly unlocked the entrance before leading them inside. Heejin frowned when she left her shoes on. 

“You’re not staying?” 

“Just make yourselves cozy, I’m gonna head to the supermarket so I can make dinner for all of us.” They didn’t get the chance to say bye when she was already out of the house and in her car, driving away to her destination.

“Alright….” Heejin replied to no one as she settled down on the couch with Chaewon. “Hey, are you feeling alright?”

“…I don’t know…there’s mixed emotions.”

“Well um…do you want anything to eat while we wait for Kim? I bought ice cream a few days ago, there should be some left if you want any.”

“She’ll be back from the store soon though.” Chaewon reasoned, but Heejin abruptly stood up.

“Don’t worry about it. Kim always likes to take her time anyways, so it’ll be awhile before she gets back.”

“Oh, ok. Vanilla?” 

Heejin chuckled and nodded. “Vanilla.” With that being said, the detective got up from the couch and entered the kitchen to open the fridge, grabbing a large pine of ice cream, only to be shocked when she held it; the box was empty. “Kim…that damn idiot didn’t even bother to throw it away!” She muttered angrily under her breath before begrudgingly trashing the pine. Running a hand through her hair, Heejin sighed before hesitantly making her way back to the living room, where Chaewon waited expectantly. 

The blonde clearly felt the vibe and giggled at her friend’s defeated look. “No more?”

“Ugh, yeah…here, give me your phone so I can text her to buy more.” Heejin did just that, though not forgetting to berate the young detective for being forgetful and lazy. “You want anything else to eat, Chae?”

“What do you have?”

“Uhh not sure, I can check. Wanna come?”

“Okay.” 

They both entered the kitchen once again, looking through the cabinets to see what else they can grab as a snack for now. There were definitely some cereals and milk, but they weren’t in the mood for it. Chaewon was surprised Hyunjin didn’t have any chips lying around, so Heejin messaged her again to buy some of that as well. But other than that, there were also ingredients for them to use and make into a meal. Only…they were both horrible at cooking. So horrible that there were instances where they’d nearly burned down the station while in their kitchen. Therefore, this resulted in Sooyoung banning them from even stepping foot inside there ever again. 

They then looked through the fridge as well, searching for anything they can just microwave with since that was the least both of them could do. Chaewon shuffled through the freezer while Heejin examined the bottom, until she heard the blonde gasp. Averting her attention upwards, she saw Chaewon holding a bag of frozen chicken nuggets. They then made eye contact. It was almost like telepathy and they suddenly directed their attention towards the microwave. 

“Wanna see if, um….”

“…if we can cook it?” Chaewon slowly finished the sentence.

“I’m sure Kim wouldn’t mind. We just have to be _ very _ careful.” And careful was quite an understatement.

“Uh Heejin, I think they’re cooked now.”

“Are you sure? They don’t look crispy.” 

“I-I…I think they’re burning.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Don’t you see the charcoal?”

“Hm, let me search it up while you look at the microwave.” 

Heejin went to the living room with Chaewon’s phone in her hand as she did some research. The detective typed as quickly as possible so they could simply get this over with. But being someone who’s never even remotely cooked an actual, edible meal in her life, Heejin narrowed her eyes at the phone screen, reading the steps of making readily cooked chicken nuggets. It all seemed like jumbled up words to her as she tried to carefully follow basic instructions. But since they were sort of rushing before Hyunjin got home, Heejin merely shrugged it off before turning Chaewon’s phone off and handing it back to her. 

By the time she returned to the kitchen, the microwave finished just then. The detective grabbed some cooking mittens so she wouldn’t burn her hands while holding the scalding hot plate. Heejin carefully took it out of the microwave and set it down the counter, coughing and waved her hand around when the burnt smell got too strong for her liking. 

“Ugh…yep, it’s burnt.” The older detective removed her mittens, staring mournfully at the charcoaled chicken nuggets. 

“Aw, now what are we going to do?” Chaewon cutely pouted before taking the plate to scrape off its inedible content.

“Hm….” Heejin looked around for another option, only for her eyes to stop on the stove. Then an idea popped into her head. “Hey, Chae.”

“Yes?” The blonde looked up to see her friend motioning towards the stove with her head. “Oh…do we…put them in a pot?” She was of course very hesitant with this.

“Yeah, go grab one and put some water in it. I bet we can just boil them instead.”

“Ooh, good call.” 

With that being said, Chaewon did as told and looked under the cabinets before reappearing with the item in her hand, setting it down on the stove as Heejin twisted the nozzle for flames to appear under the pot. They both waited until it was boiling, then dumped some frozen chicken nuggets into it. During this time, Chaewon wandered around in the kitchen while Heejin roamed in the living room, gazing around at the childhood pictures that Hyunjin hung up when she first moved here. The older detective smiled to herself when she gazed upon an adorable picture. It was a toddler version of her partner sitting behind a full set of Scooby Doo action figures, smiling brightly in front of the camera while a baby sat on her lap, curiously poking at Shaggy’s head. 

Heejin could only assume it was Hyunjin’s cousin, Yujin, who was mostly known now as the Giant Baby because of how tall she was now. The older detective then wondered how she was currently doing in the hospital. Or lab, she should say. Heejin was thinking of informing her partner whether or not shoulder revisit the place to see how Yujin was doing, despite the fact of how busy they were. It’d been days, probably weeks since the young school girl was admitted into the lab, which worried Heejin. 

Out of the blue, her thoughts were interrupted when something moved in the corner of her eye and she immediately looked to the side. Raising a brow, she looked out the window to see what it was, peering left and right. But oddly enough, Heejin didn’t see anything and frowned. She could’ve swore something moved outside. 

“Hey Chaewon, did you see that?”

“Hm? See what?” Confused, the blonde walked up to her friend standing by the window and looked out as well. “What’s wrong?”

“I…that’s weird. Maybe I’m just seeing things.”

“Geez, is the stress getting to you?” Chaewon lightly teased before leading the older back to the kitchen so they could check on the boiling pot together. 

Outside of the house, a girl was hiding behind the tall bushes in a further distant down the same street, silently cursing at herself for not seeing Heejin standing by the window when she approached closer. She held a bunny cased phone in her hand, wanting to drop it off in front of the steps. But it was harder than expected as the girl had to remain silent and not make any noises. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Heejin was using chopsticks to stir the chicken nuggets around inside the pot as it continued to boil water. She frowned while glancing inside, unsure whether it was cooking or not.

“That’s weird, things usually always cook when boiled.”

“Do you think we should add some vegetables in there?”

“Oh maybe. See if there’s any carrots or broccoli in the fridge.”

“Okay!” Chaewon obediently looked inside the cold storage, and immediately appeared behind Heejin, holding small plastic bags of them. 

“Thanks, now let’s dump it all in.” Shortly afterwards, both idiots took turns tossing chopped carrots and broccolis inside the pot, giggling as they played a mini game of basketball. When they were finished, Heejin closed the pot with its cap. “There. It should be done now.”

“Hopefully Hyunjinnie will take a long while.”

And speaking of the detective, the girl had been shopping for nearly an hour now, taking her precious time as usual. Her checklist was longer than usual since they’ve been so busy with investigating cases, both of them rarely had the chance to go grocery shopping. More was only added when Heejin suddenly messaged her through Chaewon’s phone.

The younger detective did as told and got the item Heejin requested, but she was well aware that these were Chaewon's favorites. Hyunjin decided to look around in the chips section more, seeing if there's anything else she could buy. That when a bag caught her eyes: Hot Cheetos. Those were Heejin's favorites. Hyunjin stood there and thought for a bit while having a straightface the entire time. She eventually shrugged and grabbed it off the shelf.

Hyunjin’s cart was mainly full of food and random beverages she picked up along the way, though also returning to the sections and returning the items when she had second thoughts. Hyunjin also carefully planned her list of ingredients to make Chaewon the best dish she’d ever have for dinner to make her feel better. Additionally she was thinking about buying some wine for them all as well, which would be Chaewon’s first time trying alcohol. However, she decided against the idea since she didn’t feel the mood, thus Hyunjin placed the bottle back on its shelf after briefly examining it. 

As she patiently waited by the cashier counter as they scanned every item she wanted to purchase. While Hyunjin stood there on her phone, she suddenly heard news playing on the TV that was mounted just above the cashier lady. She glanced up to see and hear what was being reported, only to be shocked when she heard there was a brawl that suddenly occurred in a popular cafe in Seoul. But Hyunjin didn’t get to hear the rest when the cashier audibly cleared her throat, catching her attention.

“O-oh, sorry.” 

Hyunjin quickly took out her wallet and paid for her items before taking the large, heavy plastic bags outside into her car. Thereafter, the detective was on her way home and looked around bright and buoyant streets of the city. Hyunjin glanced through her car windows as she drove by many food places on the way. She contemplated on getting some along the way and surprising the other two upon arriving back. However, Hyunjin then checked the time and realized it was getting a bit late, feeling kind of disappointed she took too long grocery shopping as the car continued driving away. 

  
  
  


———

  
  
  


“Hey Heejin, I think it’s done cooking.” Chaewon peeked inside the pot, noticing how oddly colored it was, a mix of green and dark orange due to the fact that they’d left it boiling for too long.

“Uh…is it supposed to look like that…?”

“Um—I’m not sure….”

“Where the heck are the chicken nuggets?”

“Oh, now that you’ve mentioned it.”

“Ugh, this is so frustrating! I was sure we were doing something correct.”

“It’s fine, I think we can just wait a little longer and see how it turns out.”

“But then Kim might be on her way back.”

“Ah, you’re right.” Chaewon pouted, having no other logical solutions to think of. 

Heejin sighed and facepalmed herself. “Guess we should just dump this then.”

“Ok, well at least we didn’t cause a fire!” 

“Yeah, let’s turn this thing off already.” The blonde nodded along, agreeing with her friend as Heejin reached over to the nozzle and shut off the stove.

It was at this moment that they knew: they fucked up.

Inside, Heejin and Chaewon were frantically grabbing any valuable item they could find and shoving them all in Hyunjin and Heejin's suitcase, ranging from bread, cat products, clothes, shoes, etc., to photo albums and framed pictures on the wall. Some were accidentally shattered along the way because of how delirious they were, thus, Heejin suffered cuts on her hands. But she could honestly care less as the whole house continued engulfing in flames, rapidly consumed by the fire that easily charred away the wooden walls of this once beautiful building. 

During this madness, the girl outside cautiously walked back towards her previous spot from before, still holding the bunny cased phone in her hand. She finally reached the mailbox and opened it, placing the mobile device inside, though leaving it open so Heejin could see it. That was when she finally noticed the house's blazing state. She raised an eyebrow at this because just moments ago, it was completely fine. However, upon seeing this, the girl merely shrugged nonchalantly before walking over to a red Ferrari and hopped inside, carefully closing the door behind her. Afterwards, the driver peeked down to see hell basically breaking loose on the house.

"Seems like they started the party earlier than we expected." 

"Or, the party came to them instead." 

The driver chuckled at that before igniting the engines and sped away right when Heejin and Chaewon abruptly barged out of the house. They were both panting harshly tripping on each other upon escaping hell to the outside world. Heejin quickly noticed a red Ferrari driving further away on the same road she collapsed on, but it was still close enough for her to see that a license plate was missing. But other than that, she was too weary and stressed to even think about anything, besides the fact that Hyunjin was coming back soon to see her house is such a horrendous state as it was still in flames. Heejin got up to her feet before helping Chaewon stand as well. 

They both walked farther away from it, wanting to hide forever now that they've caused some real damages with their inexperience in cooking. Blaring sirens were heard in the distance, flashing red and blue lights indicated that their friends finally arrived at the scene, as well as firefighters. But it was already too late as Hyunjin's house was basically nonexistent now. Haseul got out of her vehicle the second it stopped moving, hastily searching for Heejin and Chaewon, hoping that they'd made it out alive. They appeared out of the shadows when they spotted their captain looking for them. 

"Haseul unnie!" Chaewon called out to get her attention, which immediately worked. 

"Guys!! Oh my god, I was so worried about you!" She instantly embraced them both tightly like they were going to disappear into thin air. 

"Unnie…what are we going to do with the house?" The blonde was on the brink of tears, realizing her mistake of even cooking in the first place when she was well aware of her lack of skills. 

"Hey, it's ok, don't worry. The firefighters are putting the fire out right now." 

And needless to say, the whole scene was a chaos. Everyone gathered away as Haseul instructed Sooyoung and Vivi to tape off the area so no one else would pass through. More police cars arrived at the scene, shocked by how much water was being used. The fire was progressively dimming and getting smaller, firefighters working hard to put it out. Just then, a familiar car pulled up and parked just outside of the zone. All eyes directed towards it, extremely anxious and nervous as they waited. Hyunjin, bewildered by all the police cars and the firetruck surrounding her house, she exited her car and walked into the taped off area to see what was going on. 

As anyone would expect, Hyunjin was not mentally prepared by the sight. Her home was basically nonexistent as firefighters were still working, some familiar faces turning towards her. Yeji looked behind to see her friend with the deadest face she’d ever seen. All of Hyunjin’s friends froze, fearing they’d agigitate her if they got closer. But the moment dropped to the knees, Yeji quickly appeared by her side, as well as Haseul. Hyunjin kept staring forward, not uttering a single and stayed eerily silent as Heejin and Chaewon rushed up to her, clutching onto the suitcases. However, this only got the younger detective’s attention as she slowly turned her head towards them, shooting them deep, ominous glare. Haseul and Yeji’s eyes widened at this. 

“Hyun—” But before the firefighter could say anything, her friend had already taken off hunting down the two nitwits screaming for their lives.

\---

In a populous city that stood tall with magnificent structures and architecture, there was a beautiful office building like any other. Many employees and workers constantly packed in elevators, going up and down the stairs, and most having their heads stuck in numerous paperworks that were critical deadlines. Telephones were ringing everywhere, along with commotions heard left and right, which rendered lots from focusing on their task. But this was office life after all. On busy days like this, they would work nonstop, basically 24/7. 

A young woman was carefully crossing the crowd of her coworkers as they seemingly argued over something silly, though still somehow related to actual work. A box was carefully held in her arms as she quietly entered her own office room before quickly turning around and locking the door

_ Just to be safe. _

The woman thought to herself before sitting at her desk and scooting the chair in. She hurriedly organized the little materials on her desk, including the name plate reading, “Jang Gyuri.” Setting the box on her table, the woman used scissors to cut through tapes concealing stuff inside. Once she got it opened, Gyuri took out papers and documents, examining each one and briefly flipping through them. The last thing was a ziplock bag full of USBs. After the box was empty she tossed it off to the side by her desk before leaning back to read everything that was now laid out. 

After a few hours of skimming pages after page, Gyuri finally stopped to rest, but shortly returning to scatter the various USBs around her desk, sighing frustratedly. At least one should have a copy of what she risked and lost everything for. Her job, her home, her identity and even her friends. Even…even Hayoung. Gyuri turned on her laptop and opened a software for PDFs. She took a shaky breath and started plugging the drives into her laptop, one by one until finally, one of them had a document titled ‘LIMBO INVESTIGATION’. She took another breath and looked around in paranoia before opening the document. 

Just then, there was knocking at the door and she felt fear run through her entire body. Gyuri quickly crawled under her desk and put her hands over her face, breathing hard. Did they finally find her? Were they finally going to get her? 

“Gyuri?” A familiar voice called out softly, which made her heart rate instantly calm. She got out of her hiding place and walked to the door, unlocking it. There stood a person who never failed to make her smile. “Hi Jisun.” She moved forward slightly and collapsed against Jisun, letting the girl wrap her arms around her.

“Hey, you.” After a few seconds of the warming embrace, they reluctantly broke apart as the older woman stepped aside to allow her inside and closed the door. “Still working hard as always?”

  
  


“Yeah…I’ll pull through.”

“Don’t overwork yourself, Gyul.”

“I’ll be fine, it’s just mandatory work.”

“All this??” Jisun’s eyes landed the piles and piles of paper and USBs sprawled on Gyuri’s desk, eyes wide as she gazed upon it. 

“Don’t worry, I got through those pretty quick. 

“Please, I couldn’t even handle two packs of homework in school.”

“Well, you didn’t study to be a reporter.” Gyuri lightly chuckled before taking a seat on her chair and motion for Jisun on the one across. She couldn’t help but bring up a hand to cup the officer’s cheek, squishing it. 

“Hey!” Jisun complained and Gyuri laughed. She smiled warmly at that. “Besides the heavy workload, how has office life been treating you?”

“It’s fine for me. Befriended some coworkers, but nothing new.”

“That’s good. And what’s all this stuff by the way?”

“Oh um…it’s a-about Limbo.” Gyuri was unsure whether or not she should’ve just told her girlfriend that, but she trusted Jisun with everything.

“Wait, what?”

“I just need to work on this…I need to finish what I started.”

“Gyul—”

“I know. They might come back for me.”

“…babe, I can’t let you take this risk again.”

“Please, Jisun. I’m really close, I just know it.”

"Gyuri, I get this is very important, but this is too dangerous. We're talking about the mafia here, much less Limbo!" The officer exclaimed in a hushed voice. 

"Jisunnie…one more chance." 

Gyuri's voice broke at the end of her sentence as tears threatened to fall. It was a nightmare all over again. Flashbacks to the horror of that fateful day ran through the officer’s head. And with the love of her life working on a practically restricted case and it terrified Jisun. She could only sigh, well aware there was no convincing Gyuri out of this, despite how dangerous it was. 

"…fine. If something even remotely strange happens, you better call me or Jiwon, alright?" 

"I promise." The older stated sincerely, holding onto Jisun's hand tightly. 

"I'll never let anyone hurt you. Ever again." She pressed her lips on Gyuri's knuckles, leaving it there for a few more seconds, just cherishing the moment. 

"I know you won't." A tearful chuckle followed. "By the way, why the sudden visit? Not that I mind, of course." 

"Just wanted to see you before Jiwon and I head out to investigate a case in Japan.” 

“Oh, what's it about?" 

"It's…about the mafia as well, but we're still unsure if it involves Limbo." Gyuri slowly nodded along, still holding her girlfriend's hand, not wanting Jisun to go.

"Stay safe, ok? Remember to call me if something's wrong, too. I'll be sure to alert your station and maybe other ones around the city as well.” 

“Of course. I have you to come back to, after all.” Gyuri pulled her in for a kiss. They stayed like that for a while before Jisun pulled away and grinned. Just then, the officer's phone made a ringing noise, which showed her a message from Jiwon. As she expected, it was time for them to depart to the airport. 

"Jiwon?"

“Yeah. I'll see you in a few weeks?” 

“I love you."

"Love you, too." They share one last peck before the officer hesitantly got up from her seat, not forgetting to wave goodbye to Gyuri before she's out the door.


	27. New Home

The ridiculous pursuit lasted for nearly an hour as peers and captains tried to find ways to stop Hyunjin from constantly hunting down Heejin and Chaewon. There were lots of screaming, fighting, yelling and just overall a mess. Most of Yeji’s friends basically looked at her knowingly, which only made her nervous because she didn’t forget how hauntingly intimidating Hyunjin was whenever she raged over something. And this case definitely went way over her limits. The younger detective was practically blinded by rage as she continued seeking out for two particular girls, who were still hiding away in fear of what Hyunjin would do to them if they even made eye contact with her. 

But the cycle continued as they kept getting discovered from their hiding spots, leading to more running and screaming. Yeji went after her friend who was still pursuing Chaewon. The blonde looked like she was about to pass out because of how tired she was, but before Hyunjin could get any closer to her, Yeji quickly intervened. However, this of course, was painful since they both basically collided into each other. Hyunjin never intended on stopping anytime soon, thus, the two of them nearly got knocked out upon the impact.

  
  


“Holy hell! Yeji!” Yiyeon and the other firefighters quickly ran to her side after what they’d just witnessed. “Are you alright, child?? Speak to me!” The chief only received a small groan as a response. They all sighed in relief. 

  
  


Yeji regained her consciousness first and got up to her feet, before helping her friend, still out cold. Hyunjin was carried away into the police van as everyone began to disperse from the scene after firefighters finished their job. While some stayed to investigate, Haseul and the others decided to go back to their station, all were tired for the night and wanted nothing else but to go home. They all piled carefully as both Heejin and Chaewon sat in the back, too afraid to talk with their friends after the preventable that they caused tonight. If the two were patient enough for Hyunjin to get back from the supermarket, then they wouldn’t be in this situation right now. 

Heejin felt her head was going to melt with all the stress as she thought of possible ways to get Hyunjin her house back somehow, or maybe even a better home to live in. Though the detective guessed it eased her more now that she had her phone again when a peer of hers found Hyunjin’s mailbox with the device inside.

While driving, Haseul looked at her rear view mirror to see Heejin’s expression as dead as it could ever be. The captain sighed and drove on, having a certain idea of how she could sort this out, but unsure if it would work or not. Soon enough, they all finally arrived at the station, a place where they had just left and called the day. Nonetheless, it was dreadful to be back in such a few hours of freedom from work, but this was their job after all. 

Vivi and Sooyoung carried the still unconscious Hyunjin in and set her on the couch so she could rest for awhile until morning hits. Heejin and Chaewon settled on the waiting benches just at their station’s entrance, making themselves comfortable with blankets given by Haseul. Vivi, Sooyoung and Jiwoo settled at their desks as the captain allowed them to just get as much sleep as they could for the interrogation tomorrow. Haseul was on her phone and scrolling through social media, but constantly stopped whenever Saerom messaged her something that made her smile and chuckle for a bit. However, the more she scrolled deeper, Haseul finally saw a headline that caught her attention when she suddenly sat up, startling the officers that were still somewhat awake. Vivi questioned her first while Jiwoo and Sooyoung remain flustered.

“What’s wrong?” 

“Someone turn on the TV. Now.” Haseul’s stern voice immediately perked them all up as Sooyoung quickly grabbed the remote, doing as told. The last thing they expected to hear was this. 

**Officer Shin Ryujin is currently in critical condition following the violent brawl that took place in a popular cafe. This fight caught everyone by surprise, especially witnesses. **

The reporter went on to interview some people for their input, most of them were basically the same things, so it felt like the incident of this brawl was just being repeated over and over again. All eyes were glued to the screen, not looking away one bit as Haseul listened intently on what happened. She couldn’t help but feel her heart breaking upon hearing about Ryujin being bedridden in the hospital. Haseul had the instinct to visit the girl immediately, remembering when she’d trained under her during academy years. Reporters also mentioned the famed head doctor’s daughter, Chaeryeong was also in the middle of the brawl, witnesses pointing out that she’d once attempted to stop the suspect, but only got knocked out when trying to intervene. 

As the news continued, they were soon horrified when reporters mentioned Ryujin’s injury, including how many witnesses recalled seeing a tall, short-haired woman fighting her. To the officers’ reliefs, Yooa had arrived just on time to finish the battle quickly, but the suspect was able to get away right when reinforcements finally arrived. Overall, everything was hectic and they felt mixed emotions. Haseul kept frowning while watching the television, feeling she should contact Yooa and see if her fellow captain was doing fine after this sudden mess of a news. But knowing the older woman, Haseul realized it’d be best to give her some time to rest for the time being. 

“Who the hell was Ryujin fighting anyways??” Sooyoung stared in shock at what used to look like a beautiful cafe as the destruction was being filmed on screen. 

“God, that’s rough…it’s just a stab wound on her back, right?” Jiwoo couldn’t help but wonder worriedly out loud, as if they had the answers to her questions. 

“She’ll be fine for sure. All we know now is that once Ryujin is better, we’ll eventually know who she’d fought tonight.” The oldest reassured everyone in the room who nodded along with her reasoning. 

“I hope Chaeryeongie is ok, too…they tweeted about going on a date tonight.” Jiwoo pouted when she recalled replying to one of their tweets, telling them to have fun and possibly bring her back some food as well. No one really expected anything quite like this. 

Haseul sighed the more she thought about this sudden incident, before abruptly taking the remote and shut off the TV. “Like what Vivi said, Ryujin will surely be fine after tomorrow. I don’t think the stab wound could have inflicted enough damage on her. Let’s all rest up for today and get some sleep, we can visit them then.”

They all nodded at their captain’s orders and did as told before taking their spots on the couches and settled for the night. Haseul, however, stayed awake for the next few hours or so just thinking about the events that have been going on lately. She couldn’t shake off this feeling that had been stuck with her for a while now. Something about these cases just seemed so strange and off. Haseul thought back to the bizarre missions in Daegu, Heejin’s home invasion, the incident in Seoul High School, and everything else that followed. 

_ Why do they seem so connected? _

The captain’s eyebrows perked up when she silently uttered it in her mind. She’d spotted a keyword that made sense to all of this nonsense. Haseul frowned again, numerous questions popping up right after the first one. Why did she feel that they were connected? So how? What is the meaning behind it? And…does it connect to Hyejoo? She suddenly held her breath at the realization, never once did Haseul expect to have such a brainstorm like this. The captain took a deep breath to calm herself down, already feeling tired from her newfound lack of sleep since she’d stayed awake past the usual bedtime. Sighing, Haseul finally made herself comfortable on the couch and turned to her side, falling into a deep slumber. 

  
  


———

  
  
  


Everyone should’ve expected this to happen first thing in the morning, especially Heejin and Chaewon, because Hyunjin was now holding her partner in a deadly choke hold as the older girl herself was yelling for help while trying to get out of the tight grip. The station was woken up sudden screaming, Vivi, Sooyoung and Jiwoo eyes wide as they were met with the sight of Hyunjin trying to murder Heejin. They all rushed in to stop her from doing so, successfully prying her off after a few tries. But it took a while since the younger detective absolutely refused to let go, even after so many times they’d tried to reason with her. 

On that note, one thing the crew forgot to take account of: Hyunjin was an early bird. And a monstrous beast. Vivi, Sooyoung, Jiwoo and Haseul all tried holding her down as best as they could, but she was just so strong for some reason. Hyunjin would constantly find loopholes to break free from their hold, until Haseul finally instructed them to take her into the interrogation room so they could discuss this situation.

Next thing they knew, Heejin and Chaewon were sitting across an enraged-looking Hyunjin. If looks could kill, both would be long gone. The only thing saving them however was the handcuff locking her to the table. Haseul sighed and took a seat in the middle, clasping her hands together as she put her arms on the table. 

“Alright.” She looked between them. “We’re here to review what happened last night.” Heejin and Chaewon nodded while Hyunjin remained still. “You two told me that you got distracted by something or someone by the front door, therefore, left the pot unattended.”

“Y-yes.”

“Mhmm.” Chaewon softly hummed as a response, still cowering away from Hyunjin’s menacing scowl.

“So, why did you guys even cook in the first place?” The captain questioned curiously.

“U-uh…um…we were hungry.” Heejin hesitantly answered. 

Almost immediately after that, Hyunjin growled loudly and tried reaching up, intending to claw off the older detective’s face. Both her and the blonde screamed with eyes shutting, jolting back in their chairs while clinging onto each other for dear life. Haseul was quick to stop Hyunjin and held her back by the shoulders, clutching as hard as possible. The captain tried to reason that she was hurting her wrists because she was yanking so harshly on the cuffs. But again, Hyunjin didn’t care one bit, still blinded by rage. Haseul was finally able to stop her when she shouted for Vivi and Jiwoo’s help, which they instantly responded and burst into the room. 

With their combined efforts, Hyunjin forced back into her seat, now binded to the chair as a rope wrapped around her tightly, preventing her from actually getting up and tearing the cuffs right off the table. Everything calmed down after a while and Haseul resumed the interrogation where it last left off. 

“As we were saying,” the captain’s eyes still wide in complete shock at what had just happened. “Heejin, even if you were hungry, you still could’ve waited for Hyunjin to get back from the market. Especially since she was already planning on making dinner anyway.”

“We know…we really should’ve thought before doing anything. We’re sorry….”

Haseul sighed, raking a hand through her hair. “Alright well, since this was all an extremely unfortunate accident, no charges are being made.”

“Are you sure about that?” 

Hyunjin finally spoke, but her tone unsurprisingly remained cold. Maybe she couldn’t get her idiot partner through murder, but maybe ruin her life, just like the way she ruined hers in less than half a day. Hyunjin thought of suing Heejin for negligence and perhaps gain some money to buy a new house. And of course, she’d go for one without another room for idiot partner, that way Heejin won’t have—

“Hello?? Earth to Hyunijn?”

“W-what?”

“I said, you should give Heejin a chance to redeem herself.” This only made her scoff. 

“Yeah right, being partners was already bad enough. What exactly can that _ thing _ even do?”

The older detective pouted at the insult. “Come on, Hyun. Heejin still has yet to figure out exactly what she’s going to do. So once she does, please just give her this chance, ok?”

This took a lot of thinking, but Hyunjin finally decided after what felt like minutes on end. “…fine.” They all sighed in relief at her answer, especially Heejin. 

“I won’t disappoint you, Kim!” She smiled while her partner merely rolled her eyes, feeling regretful about this already. 

“Anyways, as a friend and not your captain, we have to figure out where you two will stay now.” 

Haseul said, reaching her hand out to pat Hyunjin’s head, which seemed to calm her down a little. She leaned into the captain’s touch, closing her eyes. Heejin couldn’t help but think of the action as cute. She looked up to see Chaewon smirking and giving her a knowing look, which she only raised an eyebrow at. Just then, the bell at Sooyoung’s table suddenly rang, indicating someone had just entered the station. All eyes suddenly averted towards the sound as Haseul motioned for Sooyoung herself to go check it out. With a quick nod, the woman did as told before quickly returning back. 

“It’s Yeji.”

“Yeji?” Hyunjin immediately questioned. “Why’s she here?”

“Said she wanted to talk.”

“Alright, bring her in.” Shortly afterwards, Sooyoung uttered the firefighter to where they all were, appearing by the entrance. “Hey Yeji-sshi, what brings you to our station?”

“Oh, I’m here to make an offer I found for Heejin and Hyunjin.”

“What?” Both of them simultaneously questioned immediately upon hearing the sentence.

“There’s a cool house that is reopening after renovations.” Yeji took a seat across Haseul by the table, pulling out her phone to show them the address.

“Oh wow, the architecture is beautiful.” Haseul marveled at some images and took her hand off Hyunjin’s head momentarily, reaching over to zoom in. “I think this might just be the place. The payment is affordable and it has two bedrooms.”

“Yeah, it’s perfect for you guys to make your little detective base there. Also they’ve already installed all of the necessary furniture inside, some nice offerings from the company since you two are famous.” Yeji smiled.

“I guess. It does have two bedrooms and Gordan Ramsey’s worst fear over there is short on money too, so I suppose.” Heejin pouted at yet another insult, knowing it was quite true while Haseul fought a smile. “Thanks a lot for helping out, Yeji.”

“Don’t worry about it. Just let me know if you have any troubles with the house. I’ll help you guys move in.” 

“Alright, then it’s settled! We’ll all go there together to check out the house and see for ourselves.”

Afterwards, everyone got into Haseul’s van, while Hyunjin and Yeji took the younger detective’s car because she didn’t want to be in the same ride as Heejin. It was going to take forever for Hyunjin to get over this incident and forgive Heejin and Chaewon, so it was hard to predict when, maybe even if, she forgives eventually. The older detective sat cramped in the backseat with Jiwoo and Chaewon on both her sides. She was still frowning sorrowfully about the fire before looking over her shoulders, seeing Hyunjin’s car tailing behind Haseul’s. The back window of the van was tinted black, so Hyunjin couldn’t see Heejin staring at her. Sighing, she turned back around and leaned on her head on the seat, eyes closing momentarily.

ー

  
  


It didn’t take long for them to finally arrive at their destination. They couldn’t emphasize this enough but the house was much more beautiful in person. Hyunjin didn’t know how this house was so affordable since it looked like it belonged to a millionaire. Yeji handed Hyunjin the house key as she unlocked it, entering inside. Everyone walked in, their expressions utterly astonished and mystified. The living room was magnificent. An entire shelf of books beside a huge TV, and the couch large enough for eight people at least. Hyunjin looked at the new coffee table and was relieved it wasn’t glass like last time. Their new kitchen was just as alluring with numerous cooking utensils that they didn’t know were real, a larger fridge, and more cabinets than the two expected. 

To summarize the whole house, everything was _ way _ better than their old houses. Hyunjin picked her room first and immediately set her suitcase down near the comfy bed before opening it. She was surprised to see all of her framed photos, ranging from childhood to most recent ones. Hyunjin took them all out carefully upon noticing some had cracked. There was one that was completely broken and the picture fell out. She picked it up and examined the photo, softly smiled. It was a picture of her and Heejin on the first day of their job, sitting across from each other with their computers in front. Heejin posed with a grin and peace sign while Hyunjin herself had an expressionless face and merely stared at the camera. 

Hyunjin remembered clearly Haseul had told them to smile, but she didn’t want to, especially after just becoming a new member of their station and was barely adapting. She then thought back to when both her and her partner constantly argued and called each other names every second they had. Hyunjin and Heejin always tried to make themselves better than the other, which obviously led to more arguing. Now that she thought about it, they rarely traded insulting remarks these past few months of working together. Hyunjin was once again surprised upon the realization, but then she frowned, thinking all of that would come back since Heejin’s stupidity cost her an entire house again. However, she couldn’t entirely blame the older detective since there was someone else just as dumb as her. 

Sighing, Hyunjin just brushed it off for now and emptied out the rest of the content inside her suitcase. Luckily enough, it was packed with a good amount of clothing to last a month, feeling thankful that she spent a week worth of salary on this giant luggage. Hyunjin neatly set them inside her unexpectedly enormous closet, realizing just exactly how big it was. Eyes widened as she entered inside. 

“What the…? It’s a whole new room.” The younger detective marveled at the vastness. “But why the hell would I have this much clothes…?” 

She did have a point, but this house was quite luxurious after all. Hyunjin then raised her eyebrows when she realized the taxes for the home overall. Sure, she’s paying it with Heejin, but just exactly how did Yeji think they could afford this? Being the mere police officers and detectives they were. Shrugging once more, Hyunjin thought that they would figure it out eventually, so she neatly hung up her clothes and took a shower in her beautiful, extravagant bathroom. Meanwhile downstairs, everyone was practically touring the entire house, walking around the living room, viewing the kitchen, with Haseul even cooking up some pasta for breakfast, and the rest playing Super Smash Bros on the Switch that was connected to their giant TV. Heejin had saved her games and console before the fire burned down everything, luckily. 

Chaewon had brought up the idea so it would cheer everyone up from after last night. And thankfully enough, they were all absorbed in beating each other off the platform and earn the highest score, with the courtesy of Jiwoo being a banshee, Sooyoung nearly tossing her controller at the television, Vivi too focused to hear anything around her, Yeji utterly confused on what was going, Chaewon laughing during the whole chaos and Heejin cheering loudly when she won overall, which earned everyone’s dirty looks at her. She chuckled nervously and rubbed her neck as Chaewon pressed start for a new match. Chaos ensued yet again. However, they quickly halted immediately when Haseul said she was done cooking, causing them all to scramble towards the kitchen table to get most of the pasta. 

Needless to say, Haseul was not amused by their little competition and forced them to share nicely. They quickly did as told, too scared to get on their captain’s angry side. After a while, Hyunjin finally came downstairs to see what all the ruckus was about, eyebrows rising when she saw the pasta and rushed to grab some. Everyone finished the dish faster than Haseul thought, so she and Hyunjin both cleaned the plates and everything else. The unspoken rule seemed to have already been established as Heejin and Chaewon willingly kept away from the kitchen, traumatized from last night. The older detective was sure to message Mia for an appointment soon. 

Shortly afterwards, it was time for them to head back to their station so they could resume work. Hyunjin, Heejin and Yeji were able to stay behind in the house to adjust more. 

“So what do you guys think?”

“It’s really cool! My room is spacious.” Heejin smiled endearingly when thinking about her room, causing Yeji to chuckle.

“I’m surprised you got such a good deal with this house.”

“Haha all I said was the place would be for you guys and well, they’re big fans of yours.”

“Hm, I should use that more often then.”

“Anyways, there’s something else I have, too.”

“What is it?” Hyunjin questioned as Yeji took out an extravagant envelope that was sealed with a crimson red stamp. The younger detective received it in her hands while Heejin’s eyebrows raised when she saw Lia’s print. 

“This is from Lia Choi? The lawyer??”

“Yep, apparently she was required to hand this to you both in regards to Yena and Nako’s trial.”

“Oh wow, do you know when it’s starting?”

“I don’t know, I think she’ll tell you when you guys meet us at the location she wrote.”

“You’re coming, too?”

“I guess so, Lia said she wanted me to be there, too.” 

“Alright, let’s see….” Hyunjin carefully opened the envelope, taking out Lia’s letter. Heejin wondered why she couldn’t have just emailed them instead. “She wants us to meet her at the Diamond House?? That place is extremely expensive!” Both detectives stared at Yeji in shock as she rubbed her neck shyly. 

“Well, Lia’s a successful lawyer so she obviously has a lot of money.”

“I-is she going to pay for us, or…?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about the cost. Our table has already been reserved for tonight so we have all the time to prepare.”

“Will do. We’ll be there a few minutes before then.”

“Alright! I’ll see you guys there, bye now.”

“Later.”

“Bye~” Heejin waved at the firefighter as she took a taxi home.

The two detectives made brief eye contact until Hyunjin quickly looked away, not wanting to talk to her before going upstairs, locking herself in her room. Heejin pouted at this, sighing as she entered the living room alone and turned on her Switch to play Pokemon Sword.

  
  


———

  
  


Work stayed as busy as always with everyone in station diligently staying on task. Haseul was at white board with Seoul High School’s entire campus layout while Shuhua sat by and watched, helping the captain jot down some information she found after viewing the CCTV footages. Chaewon was close to snoozing until Yuqi and Yeojin arrived when she finished school for the day. Some of her friends came along to see their station, marveling at detectives working hard to solve some cases. The kids sat at Yuqi’s desk, occasionally looking to see what kind of programming she was doing. 

On the other side of the station, Sooyoung took a break from her work and stood up to stretch. She then grabbed her phone to play some games, immersed in completing some levels for a while. Sooyoung's foot accidentally slipped from the table’s side stretcher, muttering a cuss word when her knee hit the edge. Suddenly, a file slid out from the piles of paper on her desk. It caught her attention when she saw it was assigned to Hyunjin and Heejin. Curious, Sooyoung opened the file to see who had issued it, only to be surprised it was from the headquarters. 

“What the…?”

“What’s up?”

“It’s for the duo. Something about new information and a mission from the higher ups.”

“Oh, you should give it to them when they get back.”

“Yeah. That file seems like a lot of work though.”

“They’re prodigies, they’ll handle it.”

“I guess.” Sooyoung sighed and shrugged before resuming to play some game on her phone. Only then, Vivi finally noticed the app Sooyoung was interacting with, snickering ever so audibly enough for the younger woman to hear. 

“Gardenscapes? Really?”

“What?? It’s a fun game.”

“Ok, but Homescapes is better.”

“So you’ve played Gardenscapes before?”

“Yep, finished it, too.”

Sooyoung’s eyes widened, amusing Vivi. “What?? Do you know how long it takes to complete every single level?”

“Yeah, but I had Chaewon and Yuqi hack the game for me so I had infinite lives.” She smirked, amazing the younger captain. 

“Wow…did you pay them or something?”

“Sorta. Just with games though, you know how they are.”

“Oh, right.”


	28. Dinner

In her huge, cavernous office, Lia sat at her desk, typing as she reviewed various files after files that were emailed to her this morning. The young lawyer constantly clicked on links and websites to find certain resources that matched with whatever she was investigating. Sighing, Lia leaned back on her comfortable office chair, stretching her back and neck after being so absorbed in her computer all morning. Resting both elbows on the desk, the lawyer glanced around at the files laid out. Numerous documents were about Nako and Yena, their background and criminal record. She was assigned to them after all, so it was a rather hefty job for her. Though reading and looking over their case, Lia was shocked to see what they’d gone through most of their lives. Being in low income families, just barely sustaining good quality lives, and Yena’s parents being involved with loan shark. 

The list only went on as Lia sighed again before resuming her research, occasionally jotting down important notes with a fountain pen. However, Lia suddenly stopped writing when she realized something. With all of the criminal cases happening lately, she made sure to create backup files for everything in case something would happen. For occasions like these, Lia considered paranoia to be a beneficial thing, especially considering safety measures. She pondered on and wondered if anything were to happen to her since she was such a high profile lawyer. It was part of this job after all. 

Just as Lia was about to continue researching, a noisy yawn caught her attention. She rolled her eyes before looking at her intern lazing on the couch. Lia could see the amount of newspapers that she instructed for Yuna to look over and tell her if she saw anything important. It was a practice assignment that she had to complete as an intern training to be a lawyer just like Lia herself. The girl was close to falling asleep, though Yuna was already like that when she went up the elevator to Lia’s office after finishing school for the day. 

“Hey unnie, can I take a break?”

“Not until you finish your task.” Lia nonchalantly replied while typing on her laptop.

“But I can’t do that when I’m so tired~”

“It’s part of being a lawyer, so deal with it and do what I asked of you.”

“Can I at least have some energy??”

“Coffee.” Yuna grimaced.

“Five minutes?”

“Which will equate to five hours or more. Now get it done.”

Yuna sighed at the answer that she knew was already. Pouting, the girl did as told and started working again. She laid on the couch and held the newspaper up, mindlessly staring at printed words and only focused on the headlines. Many times, she’d often doze off to the point where her eyes would close for a few minutes until. Yuna only quickly woke herself up so as to not get caught by Lia. They were always close calls, and by, she’d almost fall off of the couch because she was so tired. 

As a highschool student, Yuna would wake up early every morning to get ready. Needless to say, mornings were her enemies. She was constantly tired and never had the energy for anything, especially school. Overmore, as time went by, Yuna kept thinking about other things that she eventually succumbed to sleep and napped for the next five hours, just like Lia predicted. The lawyer wasn’t surprised in the slightest when she started hearing her intern snoring on the couch, which made her chuckle a little. Honestly, they could both use a break for today as it was already the afternoon. 

Sighing once more, Lia shut her laptop before taking out her phone to message Yeji. She smiled upon seeing the name inputted for the firefighter.

Lia giggled at the conversation before continuing on. The lawyer wasn’t aware of how long she’d been texting Yeji, but it was already close to night time, thus, it was time for her to head home, shower and get ready for dinner. Lia quickly informed Yeji that she was about to leave work before standing from her desk, walking towards the snoozing high school girl on the couch. She shook Yuna by the shoulder briefly, getting her to wake up. But as initially expected, there were no responses. Lia rolled her eyes as she briefly checked the time on her watch. Afterwards, she walked behind the couch and held it up from the bottom, causing Yuna to topple forward. She landed harshly on the cold, tile floor and got startled awake. 

“IT WASN’T ME!!” Lia immediately raised an eyebrow at her sudden shouting, setting the couch down gently and stared at Yuna, bewildered. “O-oh—unnie! Haha, sorry I um…I was dreaming.”

“Clearly.” The lawyer chuckled. “Come on, we’re going to prepare for tonight. Should get there earlier than the others so then we’ll be on time sharply.”

“Got it!”

“Let’s go.”

With that being said, they took the elevator and Lia pressed the button for the first floor. On the way down the halls, Yuna, like everyday, stared in awe with all the other lawyers walking around, minding their own businesses while managing large amounts of paperwork. The architecture was magnificent as always and Yuna felt like she was entirely in another world. As they neared the entrance, it was completely vast, though moderately crowded with many walking and socializing amongst each other. Yuna did her best to keep up with Lia as they tried breezing through the sea of employees while staring up the enormously beautiful chandelier above. Getting to the entrance wasn’t too hard, as a matter of fact, many stood out of the way for Lia to pass through since she was well known and admired in the business. 

They finally reached her car and hopped in. Lia ignited the engines after putting on her seat belt and waited to hear another click from Yuna’s before stepping on the pedal. It was half an hour to Lia’s home since she lived a few miles away from her workplace. However, they soon arrived at the luxurious building, Lia parking her car in her large garage that was full of other fancy vehicles. Yuna continued to be amazed by the lawyer’s extravagant life as they made their way inside the living room. And being the strict person she was, Lia made sure Yuna’s shoes were taken off and neatly placed in the shoe racket before slipping on sandals made for guests. 

Yuna pouted at the strictness, as she wasn’t used to it, but just went with it anyways. Suddenly, a woman wearing an apron appeared before Lia, bowing to the lawyer and addressed to her in an extremely respectful manner. 

“Welcome back, Ms.Choi. How was your work today?”

“Been fine, thank you.” The woman willfully helped Lia take off her jacket and hung it up on the coat racket before holding her purse in hand. “Can you please arrange for a hot shower and for her, as well?”

“Right away, Ms.Choi.” As the woman walked away, Yuna continued staring at her, astonished at what just happened. 

“You have a maid???” She questioned in a hushed voice mixed with shock and amazement. 

“A housekeeper, Yuna.” Lia corrected her sternly. “And yes, I hired her months ago.”

“That’s so cool! Is this what lawyer life is?”

”Precisely. But, even if you do become a lawyer, you still have to work your way up the top. Which is why you must be stricter with your work habit in order to be successful.”

“Oh, right….” Yuna pondered on and deeply thought about her future later on in life, only to be interrupted when Lia began walking towards her own room. “W-wait, unnie! Where do I go?”

“In the guest room, she’ll lead the way for you.”

“Okay!” 

Afterwards, the housekeeper led her away into the fancy guest room, a warm bath tub already prepared. Yuna gasped in awe and thanked her many times, which she only brushed it off humbly, saying it was just her job. Without another word, Yuna laid in the warm water filled with soap. She played around with some bubbles before messaging her friends about where she currently was. They initially didn’t believe her at first until she took a selfie of herself smiling giddily in the bathtub.

Lia finished her shower within ten minutes, walking out and dressed in an elegant, black blouse as the housekeeper handed her a recently purchased pea coat. It’d cost around a few hundred, which Lia didn’t really mind. Afterwards, she slipped on some high heels to match her blouse, then not-so-patiently waited for Yuna to finish. The housekeeper had informed the younger girl that they were about to leave so she had to hurry. It didn’t take long for Yuna to rush out of the bathroom, nicely dressed in a similar outfit as Lia, only wearing leathered, black ankle boots instead and had a large trench coat on. As always, she had an ecstatic smile skipping towards her mentor. 

“Ready~!” Lia arched an eyebrow before rolling her eyes. 

“Anyway, once we get there, let me do the talking, you can talk when you need to.”

“Got it! I have all of the files ready for you.”

“Good. Now let’s go.”

* * *

  
Hours earlier in the day, Hyunjin woke up from a nap on her new, unfamiliar bed. Although it was comfortable, it wasn’t the same sheet and blanket as the one she was always used to. She’d planned to go to the store and purchase those, but Hyunjin had been tired all day, so this nap was much needed. The detective groggily sat on her bed before wiping her eyes as they still stung a little. Hyunjin’s hair was adorably messy and strands stuck out all over the place. She scratched her nose before making her way into the bathroom to clean up. After a few minutes, she finally walked out, face freshened up but still slightly wet. Hyunjin tied her hair into a bun before messaging Jiwoo that her and Heejin will be heading over soon, in which the older girl’s responded with an okay.

She then decided to scroll through Twitter to see some updates from her friends.for any updates on her friends' social lives. Nagyung and Chaeyoung both tweeted about their ongoing hospital stay and daily routine. Meanwhile, Seoyeon posted a picture of herself eating cubed fruits while watching a Disney show on Netflix. Hyunjin chuckled at some of these and scrolled down to Saerom flirting with Haseul. The younger detective realized that ever since her captains had finally gotten together, they reminded her a lot about Yeji. Ranging from cheesy pick up lines to full on flirting, which she quickly scrolled past them, contemplating whether or not she should mute the two love birds next time. 

Afterwards, she spent the next few hours doing whatever on her phone, mostly just on Twitter: liking, retweeting, then repeating. Hyunjin also went on YouTube to watch something funny, hoping maybe it would help her adjust to her new home more, even though the layout was weird. She would find herself looking at a wall, expecting to see a window there, only to be oddly surprised when there weren’t any. This would then lead to last night when…oh, heck no. Nope. Hyunjin softly groaned and shook her head. Everything just suddenly came back, the image of the house in ruins and the fire raging. Plugging in earphones, Hyunjin put on some happy, uplifting music in hopes she could just forget everything. This house was better after all. 

That was when she came up with an idea as Hyunjin opened her suitcase and saw all of her framed pictures. Each was grabbed out of the luggage one by one as she displayed them all over her room. Many were neatly hung on walls, a few placed by the lampside, and the rest displayed outside, just right next to the door of her bedroom. When that was done, Hyunjin plopped on her bed again, grabbing her phone to look up the stores that had the same blankets that she used before last night’s mess. After that, she decided to scroll through Twitter one more time. Hyunjin then noticed most of her friends liking and retweeting a post, and was curious to see what they were all commenting about. Or who she should say.

Ignoring the influx of comments on her post with a deep breath, Hyunjin closed her eyes before shoving her phone in her pocket, keeping up the composure as much as possible. She reached for the coat laid on the bed before shrugging it on and putting the buttons together, hiding her suit. Checking the clock, Hyunjin saw that they still had enough time to prepare for the dinner. She then stood up abruptly and exited her room, then walking to the other bedroom down the hall. 

“JEON.” Hyunjin patiently waited as shuffling, thuds, and a little ‘ow’ was heard inside. Footsteps sounded closer, till Heejin’s door was opened by the girl herself, peeking out with a questioning look. She wondered if her rival’s anger from earlier was still present. Hyunjin gulped, then cleared her throat. “We’re checking in at the station before we head to the restaurant. Let’s go.”

“Uh—okay.” 

Heejin quietly responded, confused but took Hyunjin being strange over angry. After messaging their captain, the two walked silently to the car and continued on the way to the station, Heejin cautiously glancing at Hyunjin every few seconds. She wasn’t used to her rival not picking a fight with her. The younger detective turned the wheel smoothly to pull up to the station and stepped out of the car without a word. Heejin trailed after her into the station, feeling a little lost on what to do. Jiwoo and Chaewon happily greeted the duo detectives and made a beeline towards Hyunjin, dragging her to the side. 

“Hyunjinnie! We have something special for you!”

“Oh, what is it?” The older girl smirked and held out a small box. “Hair dye??”

“Yeah! It’s red and I think it’ll look perfect on you.” The blonde explained.

“Guys, it’s just dinner night, no one’s going to care about my hair.”

“At least try it~ we’ll help you dye it in the bathroom.”

“But—”

“Let’s go!” Before Hyunjin could say anymore, she was dragged away by an excited Jiwoo and Chaewon clutching onto the box of hair dye. Once they were inside, she wasted no time to wash Hyunjin’s hair and applying the colorant on Hyunjin’s hair. The younger detective arched an eyebrow as she watched Jiwoo play hair salonist. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Of course I do, how do you think I always had red hair? And Chaewon's blonde hair?"

"She dyed it for me!"

“Wow. That’s cool.”

“Hehe, thanks.” The older officer giggled at the compliment. “By the way.”

“Yeah?”

“Heejin looked like a lost puppy out there. Did you do something?” Jiwoo asked, her eyebrows furrowed. 

“Nothing.” Hyunjin said, glancing over at Heejin’s general direction before looking back at Jiwoo. Both her and the blonde traded looks, then to Hyunjin. “And I don’t get what I have to do with her mood?” Both of them gave her a pointed look. “What? I’m serious.” 

Hyunjin figdeted nervously while avoiding their seemingly all-knowing gaze. Jiwoo and Chaewon chuckled before focusing on her task so this would finish as soon as possible. A few hours had passed by and night time finally settled. Everyone in the station was helping the duo detectives get ready for dinner. Haseul, Vivi, and Sooyoung were picking various outfits that they think best fit Heejin. The captain helped with styling her hair with an iron curler while the other two had a childish argument over what Heejin should wear. This recieved eye rolls from Haseul as she finished with curling strands of hair. 

“Here, Heejinnie, you can wear my coat.”

“Thanks, unnie.” She smiled before putting it on. Only then, Vivi noticed something. 

“Whoa, this looks really expensive!”

“Oh, it was, around a few thousand.”

“Huh???” All of them exclaimed simultaneously, except Sooyoung, who was amusedly unsurprised by this as she knew Haseul for years.

“What?”

“How could you have afforded this??” Heejin questioned in shock, but also amazed how anyone would spend a lot of money on clothes. 

“Relax, guys. My mom just gave it to me.”

“Then how did your mom find the money for it?”

“Oh she didn’t really buy it. She runs a fashion business.”

“Whoa…that’s so cool!” Heejin ran her hand over the coat to feel the comfortable fabric. “Are you sure this will be ok? Not too casual or anything?”

“I guarantee Lia probably wouldn’t even care.” Vivi reassured her before holding Heejin’s hair back for Haseul to tie a black ribbon by her collar.

“Aaand done! You’re all set.”

“Thanks, unnie! Where’s Kim?”

“Still in the bathroom, should be finishing up by now.” Haseul checked the time and realized it was almost time. 

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and everyone turned to see who it was. Through the glass entrance, they saw Yeji waving at them, to which the younger detective quickly let her in. The firefighter was wearing a suit, though without a coat and her hair was still tied up in a ponytail. Heejin dressed nicely for the occasion, with a blouse and a black ribbon tied around the collar. She also had on her black skirt and the navy blue, dark green plaid pea coat on Haseul gave her. Lastly, her raven hair was all wavy, thanks to the iron curler, catching Yeji’s attention overall. The firefighter made the flirty whistle, causing Heejin to giggle shyly. 

“Didn’t expect to see an angel so soon.”

“Oh stop.” She continued smiling like a dork while her friends awkwardly stood there. 

“I can’t watch this.” Sooyoung muttered under her breath before walking back to her desk with a chuckling Vivi. 

“Hey Yeji-sshi. What are you guys going to talk about when you get there?”

“Oh, Lia said she wanted to hear what Heejin and Hyunjin know about Choi Yena and Yabuki Nako.”

“Those two?? Does that mean their trial is going to happen soon?” Haseul questioned with her eyebrows raised. 

“Pretty much, yeah. That’s as far as I know.” Both the captain and detective nodded at the information. 

“So I guess now we wait for Kim to finish.” 

Heejin sat down by her desk area and went on her phone, scrolling through Twitter as Yeji sat right beside her. There were a lot of updates that she missed from her friends, some of the posts she made her laugh. Heejin spotted a tweet from Yuqi, seemingly screaming entirely in capital letters but the words were kind of unreadable, like she was keysmashing. But Heejin was able to decipher it, frowning when she read about Yuqi frantically asking where Yeojin was. The older detective quickly calmed down when scrolling down to the comment section. Yeojin’s friends were screaming about a haunted house and amusement park. 

She then chuckled, realizing how much Yuqi does for the kids, especially a gremlin like Yeojin. Heejin could only hope they weren’t too chaotic for the tech geek. The last thing she’d ever expected was Yuqi willingly allowing herself to visit a haunted house and look after the kids, but she was their babysitter after all. Well technically Yeojin’s babysitter. Heejin then wondered how the heck Yuqi suddenly had to supervise more of them when one was already hellish enough. Shrugging, Heejin continued scrolling through Twitter when Yeji caught her attention. 

“Hey Heejin, how is detective life for you? Just curious.”

“Oh, it’s kind of tiring when you’re up 24/7 investigating crimes and stuff.”

“Ah, I see. What else do you do?”

“Hm…we also fight crime, as you saw in the ceremony.” 

Yeji chuckled when thinking about our coworkers crashing their fire truck into the building’s wall, toppling everything down because their chief couldn’t park in time. “Yeah, that was crazy. You’re a good fighter though.”

“Thanks! You’re amazing, too.”

“Receiving compliments from an angel is much too flattering.” 

Yeji once again flirted, causing Heejin to blush brightly as she shyly thanked her and looked away. The firefighter laughed along with her as they continued socializing about whatever. They did so while going on their phones, occasionally getting distracted, but only quickly getting back on track afterwards. Heejin went through her timeline to see what her friends had retweeted. Most were memes of stuff while others were selfies or pictures of stuff. After a while, she suddenly stumbled upon Jiwoo retweeting the younger detective’s selfie of them together in the bathroom, posing for some photos. Her peaceful scrolling was halted however, when she stumbled upon a particular post made by her rival just a few seconds ago. 

“BSJKSJSKSJA!” This startled the poor firefighter so badly as she clutched her chest. 

“Ma’am??”

Yeji looked over to see and wondered what was wrong, only to be surprised with Heejin staring at a Hyunjin’s picture, specifically the younger detective herself. She arched an eyebrow at this, pleasantly astonished by Heejin merely gay panicking over her partner. The older detective quickly shook her head at this as she put her phone away and turned it off. Heejin then instantly realized Yeji witnessed everything before playfully hitting the firefighter’s arm. She tried to defend herself and shield her head. During this, Hyunjin, Jiwoo, and Chaewon just exited the bathroom, the younger detective dressed professionally in her suit. Everyone in the station immediately noticed her new hair look, giving her compliments after compliments, to which Hyunjin got flustered. She gave all the credit to Jiwoo and Chaewon as it was their idea in the first place, so everyone praised them as well. 

After putting on her coat, Hyunjin saw Heejin attacking Yeji, utterly confused as to what led to that. However, she merely shrugged before telling them that it was time for them to leave, being the first to exit the station after bidding her friends farewell and walked towards her car. Yeji and Heejin did the same thing, then entered the vehicle. The drive didn’t take long as they soon arrived in Gangnam where Diamond House was. They were surprised to see it so crowded by the time Hyunjin parked her car. All three of them wondered how they were going to find Lia around here, before wandering the area. Before they all knew it, however, the lawyer herself had already found them when she appeared in front of Yeji out of nowhere, nearly causing her to jump. 

“Good evening, glad you all could make it. If we could get through this meeting sooner, that would be great.” Lia kept up her strict, professional persona before turning to Yeji, grinning. “Hey.” 

She greeted softly, taking Yeji’s hands into her own before bringing them to her lips and gently kissed the scars on Yeji’s knuckles. Her expression also softened, along with bright blushes and she smiled at Lia, feeling her heart flutter. Yuna coughed on her fist, reminding the two that she, Hyunjin and Heejin were still there. The duo detectives shared a brief glance before quickly looking away, not expecting this night to feel awkward so soon. At this point, they highly doubted Lia was as straight as the firefighter had told them.

“You’re looking good…as usual.” She chuckled. “Shall we?” Yeji held out her elbow for Lia to wrap her arms around as they made their way inside, followed by everyone else. 

“As do you.” Lia playfully smiled as Yuna groaned softly into her hands, cringing at how in _ love _ they were.

She then turned to Hyunjin and Heejin to happily greet them. “Hi, unnies!” 

"Hey kid!" 

"What's up?"

"You guys have no idea how big of a fan I am. This is a very honorable night to be having dinner with you!”

“It’s nice to meet you…?” Hyunjin questioned, having met Yuna before but never knew her name.

“Oh! Excuse my manners, my name is Shin Yuna.” They both shook hands as Heejin quietly chuckled. 

“So, why are you here tonight, Yuna?” 

“I’m Lia-unnie’s intern! I applied for this position because I dream to become a successful lawyer like her one day.”

“That’s cool, how were you chosen?”

“I worked very hard and did my best, though I never would’ve thought that Lia-unnie herself would personally pick me.”

“_ She _ picked you herself??” Heejin was shocked by this, knowing how hard it was to get on Lia’s good side. 

“Crazy, right??”

“That’s a huge achievement already.” Hyunjin remarked. “You’re definitely on the right path, now that you’re under her wing.”

“Yeah, I guess so. But I’ve been getting more…lazy, sort of, lately. She’s _ really _ strict with this lawyer stuff and I have to do everything she says.”

“Wow. Well, you know how she is. As long as you’re on her good side, you can do it, Yuna.” The younger detective patted her shoulder, which made her slightly emotional. Receiving approval from more professional higher ups was quite an honor indeed. 

“I hope to see you as a valiant lawyer one day, Yuna.

“Thank you very much!”

  
  


* * *

Their table was set with various utensils, dishes, wine glasses and other fancy stuff as they took their seats. The detectives took one look at the menu, shocked when all of the options reached over a few thousand. They both frowned, wondering how in the heck were they going to buy anything when all of this equated way over their salaries. But luckily enough, the owner realized who they were and decided to give them discounts and Lia paid for them all. Before Hyunjin and Heejin could thank her, she was already walking towards their reserved table, with Yeji sitting besides her. Yuna sat next to the younger detective, joyful to be dining with her role models. 

During their dinner, the slight awkwardness soon devolved into a polite conversation about the case while they waited on their food, and it went on like that for a little while the lawyer called for everyone's attention and it broke off individual conversations. The warmth she had on her face when talking to Yeji was completely erased and became more intimidatingly serious. Lia began to discuss with the detectives, revealing her stance on Yena and Nako’s cases. The lawyer added on what she’d read about them and their situations with severe poverty. 

“Regarding Nako’s circumstances, I believe she’ll only be charged for mischief and destruction, maybe a few thousand dollars fine and one year in jail would just be her punishment.”

“Oh, well, that’s not too bad.” Heejin remarked, feeling relieved Nako doesn’t have to go through too much. 

“However…” Lia hesitantly continued, catching all of their attention, “Nako’s not really the one we should be worried about. And no, it’s not going to make her situation any less important, though Yena…she could face up to life in prison.”

“What?!” The two detective exclaimed as they couldn’t believe what they’d just heard. 

“Her case may have involved loan sharks and parental neglect, but the court will likely overlook it and argue about the serum, mafia involvement, attempted manslaughter, and greater destruction of property.”

“What exactly would they argue about the serum?” Hyunjin inquired. 

“They’re well aware of its effects on the human body. So, in other words, Yena is regarded as a monster.”

“W-wait—what?? But—” 

“It’s due to the current effects. Yena’s heart isn’t beating normally, but she’s still alive and well. They may not allow her to be amongst society, fearing she’ll only be as violent as before.” Lia was quick to interrupt Heejin from continuing her question, already knowing what she was going to say.

“That doesn’t make any sense. Yena was normal before all of this. There’s no way she could lash out again.”

“I want to believe that, truly. But…I don’t know either. No one knows for sure.”

“Can’t you argue, like, it’s a good discovery or something? Because, you know, a human still breathing without needing the heart to function properly? That’s cool, in my opinion.” Hyunjin attempted to be optimistic, but Lia immediately disregarded it. 

“Even if it’s a big scientific discovery, which it isn’t.. sorry to rain on your parade but we’ve been dealing with improperly functioning hearts for most of history. Anyways, the serum remains harmful. I may have won many cases, but…Yena’s is near impossible.”

“N-no way. Lia, please, don’t give up now. She’s innocent, she never intended for any of this to happen. The court has to understand her.” Heejin was begging at this point. 

The lawyer sighed, of course she was aware of this information. Yena needed her the most. “I’m not giving up entirely, but I just need solid evidence to help. All I’ve gotten is the serum from Dr.Kim and Yena’s mask from when she fought you two. That’s just the least I have so far. But maybe, if there could be a way for me to find Yena’s parents anywhere, then that will surely guarantee a minimum jail sentence for her.”

“So then she won’t be sentenced to life in prison.”

“Yes.” Lia deadpanned and thought it was already obvious. “If that can happen, then Yena will be fine. The more justifications, the more she’ll be as free as Nako.”

“Ok, then we’ll find her parents.”

“It will be extremely difficult, their contact information is nonexistent, so the court can assume they don’t want to be present.” Yuna added on into the conversation, earning a nod of approval from Lia. 

“Or, they’re simply dead.” The lawyer stated without even wincing. Both detectives were slightly intimidated by it as Hyunjin remained shocked. 

“What the…?”

“It’s possible, no one has heard from them in years. But again, it’s just an assumption, they could still be living as we speak.”

“Right, so…I mean, they could be anywhere, for all we know.”

“Well, since you’re the most beloved investigators out there right now, I trust you two won’t have such a difficult time.”

“We’ll do our best.” Heejin concluded as the younger detective nodded along.

Just then, a waiter walked up to them and questioned if they needed more time ordering since they’d yet to eat or drink anything since arriving. “Greetings, everyone, would you all like to order anything? We’re currently making the special Balsamic-Glazed Steak Rolls as many are ordering it.”

“Ooo, that sounds nice, wanna try it, Lia?” Yeji gazed into her eyes, excited upon hearing the dish. The lawyer just couldn’t say no and giggled, momentarily placing her hand on her cheek.

“We’ll take it, thank you. As for beverages, get us the usual.”

“Right away, Ms.Choi. I shall see you all soon!” With that, he took off to inform the chefs. 

“What’s the usual?”

“Jasmine tea.”

“Oh, alright.”

  
  


_ Ew, god… _

  
  


The drink Heejin hated the most was tea. She despised all types of it and never wanted to try it again after the first time at a younger age. Maybe it was the scent, but Heejin just couldn’t stand tea. However, she didn’t want to upset Lia if she complained or asked for another drink since the lawyer was already paying for their dinner. And most importantly of all, Heejin had to stay on her good side. Meanwhile, as the same waiter walked to the back, where it was empty, he was ready to serve the cups of jasmine tea that were already set on a metal plate. Before he could even grab it, he was suddenly stopped when another waitress was about to grab it as well. 

“U-uh, sorry, I’m supposed to take this.”

“That’s ok, let me handle it.” She insisted, but the man wouldn’t let her when he quickly noticed something strange. 

“Hey…I’ve never seen you around here before.” Narrowing his eyes, he stared at her suspiciously. Then, without expecting it, the waiter was instantly knocked out cold by a sharp blow to his nape. She watched him collapse on the ground amusedly before staring up at the culprit, chuckling. 

“Thanks, but I would’ve handled it myself.”

“Sure thing, if you were fast enough.”

“Hey! I didn’t ask for your help, now did I?”

“Whatever, he’s already out of our way, now hurry up.” 

The woman dragged his unconscious body away and shoved him inside the storage room, while the impersonating waitress looked down at the round tray of tea cups. Slowly wearing an evil, menacing smirk, she took out a tiny tube of black liquid, it’s small label reading _ venom _. Afterwards, two out of the five cups were laced with tiny droplets of toxicant, then stirred in so that it’s not easily visible. Putting on some glasses, she exited the kitchen, creeping towards the detectives’ table with a calm, dark look plastered on her face. But as she neared them, her expression changed to a warming smile as she placed the cups down on the table, all while making sure the two venomous cups were placed for Hyunjin and Heejin. 

“Enjoy your drinks! And if you need anything, please let me know.” She received nods and gratitudes before walking away, the cold-hearted eyes returning when she arrived at the kitchen again. Fishing out her phone, the waitress dialed a number and pressed call, the person on the other side picking up immediately.

_ “Is it done?” _

“Yes, leader. The poison has been served to the detectives.”

_ “Perfect. I expect no failures in this task.” _

“There will not be any. They’ll certainly consume it in no time.”

_ “Sooner than later. I want them gone before they ruin everything I’ve accomplished.” _

“We won’t let you down, leader.” The woman who’d knocked out the waiter appeared to add on, hearing their phone conversation as she came back. 

_ “I await for the good news.” _

With that, the mysterious person hung up, ending their call. They both then looked at each other, smirking before getting back on the task to monitor their targets. Back at the table, the group continued socializing amongst each other about topics that came up. Ranging from Diamond House’s delicious food, the recent news, to personal life, future plans, jobs, etc. Hyunjin and Heejin got to learn more about Lia than they expected. She’d been studying to become a lawyer for basically her whole life and her parents were extremely about her education, which was why she attended a highly prestigious private school in middle school. 

However, Lia somehow maintained a social life, with lots of friends to hang out with despite her heavy workload from the school. To her, it was just elementary stuff now that she thought back to it, amazing everyone, especially Yuna who couldn’t help continuously gape at her amazing life that led Lia to becoming a powerful lawyer. They all continued sharing their own stories, all of them were funny and amusing, which lightened up the mood after what was previously discussed. The girls got to know more about each other and became closer than they were before tonight. 

Afterwards, they started socializing amongst themselves, Yuna listening to Hyunjin’s stories about her crime fighting career, which made her consider taking on the police academy as well as most of her friends. As they continued talking, Heejin and Yeji were trading flirtatious comments with each other non stop, all while Lia sat there calmly fuming with jealousy as it continued on. The lawyer looked off the side for a moment before thinking deeply. She’d once told Yeji that she was ‘straight,’ but with this intense jealousy, Lia began doubting herself and felt foolish for telling her crush that. 

“Jisu-ah.” Thoughts were interrupted when she heard her real name from Yeji. Lia’s heart fluttered at how natural it sounded. “You alright?”

“Mhm, just a lot on my mind.”

“Thinking about me?” Yeji made her usual smirk, which earned a smack to her arm.

“Aren’t you too busy flirting with Heejin over there?” 

“She’s pretty, isn’t she?” Lia briefly glanced over to the oblivious detective on her phone, messaging a friend.

“Hm, whatever.” The older girl pouted at the short response. 

“Hey, if you wanna talk about anything on your mind, I’m here.” She smiled warmly. 

“…I want to date.” It came out so bluntly that Yeji was taken by surprise. 

“W-what—”

“Date.”

“Like, seriously dating—”

“Yes.”

“That’s…that’s great!”

“But first,” Lia stopped her one more time, “show me you want it just as much as I do.” With that, she then turned away, not paying any attention to Yeji at all. 

This night couldn’t get any weirder. Every time the firefighter would try to make an effort to talk to Lia, she was easily turned down. After several more attempts, Yeji eventually stopped bothering her and began mentally making a plan on how to appeal to the lawyer. Yeji’s mind soon temporarily forgot about the sudden situation as she talked more with her friends, which eased her stress. They began playfully arguing about stuff about food and games that somehow turned into a debate that Lia had absolutely no interest in. She sighed, a little sad that Yeji’s not paying attention to her anymore, but pettiness didn’t allow her irritation to show. Lia then picked up her cup of jasmine tea that was served to them a while ago, feeling the need to drink it now while the beverage was still hot. 

Little did the group know, they were secretly being observed by the impersonating waitress. She occasionally walked by their table, carefully side-eyeing them to see if the damned detectives had drunk their tainted tea yet. Every time she crossed by, however, frustration only increased whenever their cups remained untouched. The waitress would groan quietly, but tried her best to keep up her happy face so other waiters and guests wouldn’t notice. Most importantly, she was well aware that there were security cameras around, so to be less suspicious, the waitress would wander around and occasionally stay in the back before repeating the process again after a while. 

This time, when returning to their table, she was glad and very relieved to finally see one of the tea cups gone, quick to assume that one of the detectives had drunk it. The waitress briefly eyed them and found Heejin’s cup missing, however, she wasn’t the one drinking it. And to her utter horror, that same tea cup was in Lia’s hand. When the lawyer gulped down what she thought was her tea, the bitter taste was prominent, so she immediately tasted it and grimaced in disgust, never expecting such a harsh flavor. Lia coughed, placing a hand on her chest before grabbing the napkin. She lightly rasped into it, feeling her heart drop when she saw…blood. 

Time felt like it'd just frozen and everything stopped moving. Lia was in utter disbelief as she stared at the napkin, slowly crumbling it in her hands before staring at nothing. Lia then looked around their area in the restaurant, but she wasn't sure what she was searching for exactly. Her vision was already blurry enough, but things became more dim after drinking Heejin's tea. Lia's heartbeat started slowing down, so her breathing. Now shaking, Lia’s body was getting weaker by the seconds as she peeked into Heejin’s tea cup and saw some black colored substances ominously floating inside. 

Meanwhile, the rest of the girls continued debating over each other, laughing whenever someone made a funny joke. They constantly teased one another for liking a certain thing, but then others would find their flaw, which would lead to another cycle of arguing once more. This continued on for a while more, none of them noticing Lia just yet. 

“Oh come on! We all know vanilla is the best ice cream flavor.” Hyunjin argued as a big fan of that dessert. 

“Chocolate is where it’s at, there’s no discussion!” Yeji refused, only to be shut down instantly by Heejin. 

“I gotta agree with Kim, vanilla is best.”

“Now hold on, hold on.” Yuna butted in. “Napoleon is the best because it has three flavors in one!”

“But they’re technically still separate flavors.” The youngest detective was confused as to how that was relevant to this, but Yuna continued on.

“You’re supposed to have them together. That’s why it’s all in one.”

_ “Together?? _ But that’s just a slander, especially when the strawberry flavor is there.” Yeji, for one, disliked that part the most. “If I’m ever desperate just to eat chocolate ice cream, maybe I’ll get the napoleon and just eat that part.” Hyunjin arched an eyebrow before questioning her. 

“So then where does the rest go?”

“To my little cousins. But, sometimes the trash can.” They all collectively gasped at this. 

“How dare you do that to vanilla??” Heejin dramatically demanded for her answer. 

“Plus, that’s just a waste of money.” The high school girl included, earning nods of approval. 

“Vanilla and strawberry ice cream are not worth eating. End of story.” Yeji disregarded their disagreements to emphasize her stance, only earning more backlash. She rolled her eyes before stopping their banter. “Alright, alright! We can all agree on something though.”

“And what is that?” Hyunijn inquired curiously as she wondered what they could actually side with together after their dorky debate.

“Mint chocolate is the worst of all.” Instantly, everyone collectively nodded to that statement. 

“They honestly shouldn’t even be in the same sentence.” Yuna stated as-a-matter-of-factly, receiving agreements from her role models afterwards. The older detective continued on, grimacing when she remembered the first time she once tried it after being dared by Yeojin. Worst moment of her life. 

“It doesn’t and will never taste good.”

As Yeji was about to continue on, she realized Lia hasn’t talked for a while. The firefighter was scared of bothering her, though she couldn’t help but feel like Lia was being left out of their conversation, so Yeji decided to include her. “What do you think, Lia?”

They all averted their attention to her, only to be surprised she was laying her head down, face in her arm. She remained unresponsive and completely motionless. Lia passed out unconscious before she could properly alert the others. Face buried into her arm that was resting on their table, the limb bent so they couldn't see her. Her hand dangled on the edge while everything practically shut down and she was barely breathing. Hyunjin frowned. 

“Has she ever done that before?”

“U-uh, no, I don’t think so.”

“Lia-unnie would never rest during an important meeting.” 

“Lia? Honey, are you—” 

Yeji carefully placed her hand on the lawyer’s shoulder, but no one could’ve expected for her to collapse on the ground. The group immediately hopped out of their chairs and surrounded her while every guests and waiters in the dining room exclaimed in shock before murmuring amongst each other, constantly questioning what had just happened and what was going on. Men in suits and women in extravagant dresses peeked over, wondering if Lia was alright. 

“I-is she ok??” 

Yuna frantically questioned, immediately getting emotional upon seeing her mentor unresponsive. They rolled the lawyer onto her back as Yeji gently placed Lia’s head onto her arm to hold it. They all tried their best to compose themselves and keep calm, but upon seeing blood coming out of Lia’s nose and a little from her mouth, they couldn’t help but feel shocked. 

“Oh my god, s-she’s barely breathing.” 

Yeji stuttered as tears threatened to fall when she checked her almost girlfriend’s pulse. Hyunjin immediately stood and shouted for someone to call the ambulance, as well as for the area to be evacuated in this instance. Everyone obediently complied, all piling out of the restaurant and into the parking lot. One of the waiters informed them that the ambulance was notified and that they were arriving soon. The group was somewhat relieved when Lia began lightly coughing, but that only caused more blood to stream out of her nose. Both Yeji and Yuna advised the lawyer to breathe carefully as Heejin called Haseul on the situation. Her captain then told her that everyone was on their way. 

While Lia continued struggling to stay conscious, she suddenly grabbed Yeji's sweater, with the sleeve stained with blood from when she’d wiped it from her girlfriend’s nose. That was enough to halt everyone in their spot as Lia wearily pointed up to the table, right at Heejin’s cup of tea. The older detective herself quickly stood on her feet and grabbed it. At that moment, she was able to see the black venom inside, barely mixed with the jasmine tea: the only possible reason why Lia was affected. 

“I-it’s poison!” Heejin informed them with wide eyes. 

“Check all of the cups!” 

Hyunjin knew none of them, except the lawyer, had drank their tea because they were too busy talking amongst each other. Thus, with her suggestion, the duo looked into Yeji and Yuna’s, then into Hyunjin’s. The only obvious difference was that the younger detective’s tea was darker, its venomous content swirling inside. That was when they both immediately shared a shocked look towards each other, finally connecting the dots. Everything became clear. 

“Someone……”

“……tried to assassinate us.”


	29. Unknown City, part 3

The sky was grey, raining harshly outside as the streets flooded with excessive streams of water going down sidewalks and into drains. A thick fog coated the city, thus many pedestrians and cars were having trouble navigating since the heavy rain made it difficult to do so. A woman stood in her kitchen with the stove on, boiling two packs of ramen in a pot. She used chopsticks to stir them around as they got softer. Few minutes passed and the ramen was ready. Grabbing some oven mittens, she held both handles of her pot carefully before walking into her bedroom, where a younger girl sat on the tile floor, patiently waiting. The woman cautiously set it down on a stool between both of them and handed some chopsticks to her. 

“Here, Hyejoo. You wanna pour in the spicy powder?” She silently nodded as a response before doing so as the woman took off her mittens and grabbed another pair of chopsticks. They both stirred the ramen together to mix it in, then Hyejoo took a bite. “It’s good?” She nodded again, the aroma of ramen reminded her of happier times.

The younger girl hadn’t spoken since she’d given herself a haircut, with the addition of not eating as much as usual, which concerned the woman who decided to invite Hyejoo into her apartment, hoping it would make her more lively. She decided to turn on the TV for them to watch some shows on a few channels. The woman would turn to ask Hyejoo if she liked the show, to which the responses ranged from “eh” to head shakes. After a while, there was finally something that entertained both of them, what seemed like a survival show for entertainment trainees of various different companies, as they chowed on some ramen. Luckily, it finally had some subtitles for Hyejoo to read, so whenever they cracked a funny joke, she would smile, but a laugh or chuckle remained nonexistent. Sometimes throughout the televised program, it reminded Hyejoo of someone she'd met before all of this.

On the other hand, the woman was glad that there were at least some reactions from Hyejoo, taking it as basically better than nothing. After a while into the show, they both had already finished their pot of spicy ramen within an hour or so. Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. The woman gave a knowing look to the teenager, causing her to roll her eyes. Softly sighing, Hyejoo reluctantly put her hood over her head, fake glasses and a mask to conceal her face, then continued watching shows. The woman got up and walked over to the door, grabbing the metal bat propped beside it before looking through the peephole. She immediately put her bat down and squealed, swinging open the door to reveal a close friend of hers. Hyejoo raised an eyebrow at the interaction but didn’t move from her place. They briefly spoke in a language that she had slowly learned little bits of over her years in the location. Hyejoo was proud of herself for being able to understand their oncoming conversation.

“Jiaqi~! It’s been a while, how are you??”

“Could ask you the same thing, Jieqiong-ah!” They both embraced each other, happily smiling while playfully twirling around.

“Your work is going alright? Must’ve kept you really busy. What brings you so far from home?”

“Ugh I have to be out investigating some areas with my partner to locate this mafia. We were near here so I thought I would drop by and see you. I’ll say more about it later. How about you?” Hyejoo sat up straight at that. 

  
  
  


_ This person was a part of the law enforcement? _

  
  
  


“Uh, I’m still looking for a job. I have a neighbor over to stay for the night. The kid’s kinda shy, so don’t mind if she doesn’t respond much.”

“Oh cool, what’s her name?”

“Olivia.”

“Aahhh, interesting. So she’s a foreigner?”

“Yep! I’m trying to get her to adapt more ever since she moved here.” 

“How nice of you.” Jiaqi teased and lightly pushed Jieqiong on her arm, causing both of them to laugh. 

"Here, you can come meet her." Entering the bedroom, Hyejoo saw how she was dressed like detectives in the movies, smiled and bowed in greeting. The younger bowed slightly in return.

“Jiaqi meet Olivia, Olivia meet Jiaqi.” Jieqiong introduced, sitting down beside Hyejoo once again. Jiaqi sat across from them, as she eyed her badge, which hung from her shirt pocket.

“Where are you from?” Her curious question caught Hyejoo's attention. 

"U-uh—"

"America, she was born in California." Jieqiong quickly filled in, relieved that Jiaqi didn't bat an eye about it.

"Wow~ interesting. How come you decided to move here?" 

"College." Hyejoo answered softly, wanting so bad to tell the truth. But it was a lost cause.

“Nice, I hope you enjoy your stay! Hope I'm not bothering, I'll leave you to your show." Jiaqi backed off before turning to Jieqiong, much to Hyejoo's despair. "Hey, do you mind if I use your bathroom really quick? I had coffee on the way here and didn’t think it would digest faster than my car.” 

She giggled before jokingly pushing Jiaqi towards her bathroom. “Hurry up because I just mopped my floor!” 

“Geez, feisty!” 

She responded back behind the door before closing it completely. Jieqiong then walked back into her room that Hyejoo was in to collect the now empty pot and bring it back to her kitchen. She then busied herself in the kitchen, washing everything and making sure the sponge fully cleaned them. Just then, Jiaqi appeared from her bathroom, to which the younger nodded towards her bedroom. Chuckling, she got the message and went inside before falling onto Jieqiong's bed to rest after a long morning. She made sure to message her partner to take a break, and maybe buy both of them some donuts once Jiaqi leaves her friend's apartment. Just when Jieqiong was about to finish washing everything and join the two, her phone suddenly began buzzing.

Both Hyejoo and Jiaqi didn’t notice as Jieqiong quickly dried her hands to flip it over revealing the caller’s name. That was when she froze. On the screen, their emboldened name read JJS. Jieqiong looked to her side to see the two visitors in her room chatting amongst themselves while watching shows on the television. She then quietly walked to a safe distance away from them, now standing in her living room. Jieqiong answered the call. 

“Greetings. This is Kyulkyung speaking.”


	30. Mission in Japan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while but we're back uwu

Sirens blare all across the streets, alerting other cars to move away and make a road for the ambulance carrying Lia. She looked as pale as snow, her eyes alarmingly baggy and lips were dried. Yeji sat with Yuna on one side of the ambulance while a nurse made sure to keep Lia’s bed secure so it’s not moving too much with the hectic driving. A Yellow Ford followed closely behind, driven by Hyunjin as Heejin seated in the passenger seat, anxiously hoping Lia was doing alright in the ambulance and feared that if it just even went over a speed bump, something bad would happen to her. Luckily for them, however, the road continued to stay clear of any other vehicles just in time to finally reach the hospital. 

Haseul, Sooyoung and Vivi were already there waiting patiently as Hyunjin parked. The duo detectives greeted their station members before rushing as Lia was being carried into the hospital. Everyone else followed behind them closely, also hoping the lawyer was doing alright after Haseul received a sudden phone call from Heejin, informing what had happened in Diamond House. Without any hesitations, Haseul, along with Sooyoung and Vivi, hopped into the van and headed towards the hospital when Heejin informed them they were on their way there. 

Once there, everyone saw Lia laying on the stretcher as it was hasilty being wheeled in. Yeji and Yuna followed the nurses as they hurried through hallways, watching her pale figure closely before doctors guided them into the emergency room. Jiho instructed fellow medical professionals inside before entering as well. Binnie quickly assured everyone that it was going to be alright, now that Lia was in good hands, though that totally didn’t calm them down. Yeji was practically in distress as Hyunjin hugged her, Heejin comforting Yuna as she cried into the older detective’s shoulder, and the rest, mostly Haseul, talked with Binnie as she relayed some important information for them. 

“To summarize, Lia was poisoned with some type of venom after consuming tea that was served in Diamond House, but we’ve yet to know what it is. She’d bled a lot from her mouth and nose, so…whatever that venom was, it most likely caused severe damage. But we’ll do the best we can to prevent anything worse, don’t worry.”

“Ok…thank you, Binnie.”

“Of course. It’ll take us the whole night to finalize the data, so it’s best you all go home and rest.”

“Wait, nurse. How severe was it, exactly? Were there any vital organs damaged?” Vivi questioned. 

“Just her lungs and throat, as far as we know.”

“Alright, thanks for everything. Please make sure she’ll be fine, Binnie. Lia has an important trial coming up and only she can do it.”

“I greatly understand your concerns, so we won’t stop at anything.” 

The nurse declared with determination before bowing and entering the emergency room to hand Jiho the clipboard. Afterwards, Haseul informed everyone else about what Binnie had told her about Lia’s conditions. Yeji and Yuna were utterly heartbroken hearing this, while the duo detectives were shocked, especially when they were still hyper aware that they could’ve been the ones inside the emergency room. While still holding Yuna, Heejin slowly looked over at Hyunjin, who was already staring at her. Like telepathy, they could already tell what they were both thinking before averting their attention to Haseul. 

“Unnie.”

“Hm?” She looked at Heejin. 

“We need to tell you something.” Hyunjin filled in the rest as the captain nodded, sensing their seriousness. 

The two traded places with Sooyoung and Vivi as they began walking down the hall with their captain. They stopped at a minimal distance before relaying the gloomy discovery they found at Diamond House as Heejin spoke up first. “The tea that Lia drank…it was meant for me and Kim.” 

“Yeah, both of our cups were poisoned.” Haseul certainly didn’t expect this at all.

“W-what?? So…then….”

“…we believe it was an assassination attempt.”

“God….” The captain placed a hand on her forehead, trying to process what they’d just revealed. “Wait, wait, if it was both of your cups then, why haven’t they taken them in yet?”

“I-I was too frantic to take my tea…dammit.” Hyunjin groaned and cussed at herself for not acting fast enough.

“Don’t beat yourself up for it. We had to make sure Lia was alright and that was more important.”

“Thanks….”

“And by the time Lieutenant Im arrived, Kim’s cup was already gone. Like someone had taken before anyone could see or obtain it.” Haseul closed her eyes momentarily and took a deep breath. 

“This is all just too crazy…y-you guys could’ve—”

“Haseul unnie, we’re okay, don’t worry.” Heejin placed both her hands on the captain’s shoulders to calm her down. “We’ll continue to be fine.” She embraced the older woman as tears began flowing. Hyunjin etched closer to rub Haseul’s back, hoping it would comfort her. 

“…I can’t lose you…any of you….”

“Haseulie…don’t stress too much about it.”

“Yeah.” Heejin smiled warmly as she practically knew Haseul by heart. She’d always cared about her station members and friends like her family that it hurt to see such a bright woman in tears. “I know tonight was…scary, but we’re on high alert all the time, ok?”

She felt Haseul lightly nod against her shoulder. The mood eventually calmed down as they made their way back to the group. Yeji had stopped being anxious while Yuna, still sad and distraught, was feeling slightly better as she stopped crying while her eyes were puffy. However, Yeji couldn’t help but feel as if everything was crashing down. Her vision was blurry with tears and the only thing keeping her grounded was Yuna, who was equally devastated, tightly gripped onto her hands. She doesn’t know how long they’ve been sitting like that just outside the emergency room but she would be there as long as it took for the ER staff to get the poison out of Lia. 

Yuna eventually got too tired and fell asleep, her head resting on Yeji's shoulder. The firefighter was void of any emotions by the time Hyunjin and Heejin came back. Haseul offered to give the high school girl a ride home to her house so Yuqi could look after her while she continued finishing up some work at the station with Vivi. Despite the captain’s offer, Sooyoung waved it off, saying it was fine as she took the taxi home.

"Hey…Yeji-ah." Hyunjin rubbed the girl's to get her attention. She heard her hum softly. "Wanna come home with me and Jeon? So you can rest for the night." 

"N-no, it's fine…I'd rather stay here. With Lia." 

"But—where will you sleep?" Heejin frowned, but Yeji was too stubborn.

"I don't care. I just wanna be here." The firefighter was initially supposed to hang out with Lia after the dinner meeting. But now that their plans were unexpectedly thrown in the trash, Yeji didn’t know what to do.

"Alright, alright whatever makes you feel better. Call us if you need me anything, ok? And um, maybe try sleeping somewhere, other than this bench." 

"Yeah…I'll deal with it."

Solemnly nodding, Hyunjin finally stood up after giving her friend one more hug, then motioned for Heejin that it was time for them to leave. The older detective stared sorrowfully at Yeji before reluctantly following Hyunjin out into the parking lot, before entering her car. Their ride home was completely silent, both feeling extremely tired and stressed thinking about the dinner tonight. Heejin leaned her head on the side, merely staring out the buildings and structures they were passing by. She couldn't fathom at the thought of how Lia’s cup was meant for her. And only her. Everything felt like a fever dream as this was the first time she ever experienced nearly being assassinated in her job. Heejin once thought about it a long time ago, but never expected this to be so serious. Although they had the whole morning tomorrow to investigate everything, this was surely going to haunt Heejin in her sleep. While focusing on the wheel, Hyunjin could sense her partner feeling troubled, despite not even looking at her. Sighing, she finally spoke. 

"Hey."

"Hm?" 

"Don't think too much about it." Heejin remained quiet for a little while, before responding.

"…things are getting more dangerous. Worse. It wasn't like this when Hye first went missing."

"I know. What's obvious is that Limbo did this."

"Yeah, no kidding…." She muttered quietly under her breath, still mindlessly staring out the window as Hyunjin continued driving. 

"Maybe if we lay low for a bit, things might get easier." Heejin scoffed.

"Has it ever been easy?" 

"Well, no. But we're still alive and that's what matters." 

"…we were supposed to drink those cups. And we didn't even know they were—"

"Jeon, enough with the sappy shit, alright? Get your head together. Yes, we almost died for the 100th time, so we're going to be on guard more, no matter what." 

"Sorry…I'm just tired." Hyunjin sighed once again, softening her tone.

"We all are. And we're all in this together." 

Heejin felt somewhat relieved. "Does that mean you're not too angry with me now?" 

"Don't push it."

The older detective chuckled for the first time after tonight's incident. As rivals, she was surprised they could easily lift each other's depressing moods. Maybe Heejin was crazy but she might've seen Hyunjin slightly smile. After finally arriving home, they didn't hesitate to hop in their own beds and sleep. Though by sleep, Heejin was still awake at 2am. The paranoia constantly crept up on her every time she tried to fall asleep. She was initially tired while in the car, but for some reason, Heejin wasn't now. Her breathing was shaky, full of fear and anxiety as sweat glistened her forehead. Sitting up, Heejin grabbed a stuffed bunny doll and hugged tightly while walking towards the room across from hers. She carefully opened it as quietly as possible, then peeked inside to see Hyunjin sound asleep in her bed, snoring away. Heejin practically tiptoed towards the younger detective before cautiously laying down, her back entirely facing Hyunjin. Good thing there was an extra pillow, thus Heejin rested her head on it while cuddling with her bunny doll. She slept on the furthest side of the bed and although hyper aware that she might fall off, Heejin didn't want to accidentally wake Hyunjin up by sleeping too close. 

Other than that, the older detective felt a sense of comfort and was quite relieved she wasn't alone in her room anymore. Heejin was able to peacefully sleep that night, also unknowingly ended up cuddling with Hyunjin somewhere throughout the night. Morning soon came as she woke up first, due to the bright sunlight, while questioning why there was a heavy weight on her right now. The younger detective rubbed her eyes before opening them, only to be shocked when she saw Heejin's head in her neck, sleeping soundly.

Hyunjin softly groaned before carefully leaning to the side so her partner could get off of her. She'd assumed they'd been laying like that for the past hours since Hyunjin’s shoulder was sore. She carefully cracked it a little before making her way into her bathroom to freshen up. After a while, Heejin eventually woke up to the sound of a shower running, groggily getting off Hyunjin’s bed to stretch her tired limbs, then walking back into her room. Both detectives finished getting ready for work as the older went downstairs and into their living room. Next was Hyunjin after she finished drying her hair before entering the kitchen to grab a snack or two. Heejin, despite being hungry, couldn't even bring herself towards their abnormally large and highly advanced fridge to get some food for herself. She patiently waited for the younger, but then Heejin's stomach betrayed her. 

"You should eat something before we go, Jeon." 

"Uh…c-can you get it for me?" Hyunjin frowned at the older, causing her to blush. 

"Huh?" 

"Get food for me?" 

"Get some yourself." 

"But I don't want to…." Even though Heejin muttered under her breath, Hyunjin still heard her. 

"Why not?" This couldn't be embarrassing enough. What the heck was she supposed to answer that? After a short while, it finally became clear. "Are you scared of the kitchen, Jeon?" The younger chucked this, which only made Heejin's cheeks redder. 

"N-no! I'm just—not that hungry." 

"Mhm. Your stomach says otherwise." 

"Whatever, I'll buy something on our way to the station." 

"Or," Hyunjin deadpanned, "you can simply grab some _ free _ pastry already in the fridge." 

"…fine." Reluctantly getting off the couch, Heejin cautiously etched forward, her eyes focusing on it. Seeing this, the younger detective sighed before grabbing her car keys and heading out the door. 

"Please hurry up because Haseul just messaged for us to go there now. Otherwise, I'm leaving without you." 

"Alright, geez." 

She tried to be quicker, but it was just so difficult, oddly enough. Taking closer steps, her feet halted just behind the line that led to their kitchen. Heejin groaned at this, feeling as though if she were to go further, everything will suddenly burst into flames. Then, her eyes averted to the packs of water bottles conveniently placed near where she was standing, just over the line and next to their kitchen counter. Heejin opted to just drink that, in hopes it would relieve her hunger. With that being thought out, she immediately grabbed one before hastily exciting the house, surprised to see Hyunjin still waiting there. They both didn’t waste any more time and quickly headed toward their station in the oddly less crowded streets than usual. Once there, both immediately entered inside to see an anxious Haseul, as well as many of their friends pasting around.

“What’s wrong?” Hyunjin spoke up first, while frowning at this strange situation right now.

“Lia, she’s….” Sooyoung hesitated, but Vivi continued for her.

“She slipped into a coma.” 

“What?!”

"How could that happen??" Heejin frowned, desperate for more information.

"Hey, hey don't worry too much. Lia’s still alive, as Jiho said. She'll wake up eventually. They had to get her stomach pumped, which got rid of most, if not all the venom." Vivi immediately explained everything to them as both detectives visibly sighed in relief. 

“They had to put her in an induced coma because her body was acting up or something so the effects will slow down and help her rest.” Both detectives sighed in relief. 

"I'm just still so worried…I mean, anything can happen at this point."

"Let's not stress too much, Seul." Sooyoung wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders to comfort. "Lia will recover before we know it." 

"Oh, in case Lia can't make it to the trial, who will take her place?" The younger detective inquired.

"We're not entirely sure, but it has to be someone either as good as her or at least close enough." 

"Well, hopefully we'll find out who they are soon." 

"Hey Haseul, can we go visit Lia today? I wanna hear from Jiho or anyone how she's doing." 

"I'm worried about Yeji, too…." Heejin muttered under her breath. 

"Yeah sure, I'm kinda busy with my own case so you two can go there your—" Haseul was quickly interrupted by Sooyoung.

"Wait, actually." She rushed to her desk and pulled out a file from the stack of papers on her desk. "This is for you, Hyunjin, Heejin."

"Huh? For us?" The younger frowned before opening it, only to be shocked that it was an assigned mission to them, _ exclusively _ from the headquarters. "Why all of the sudden?" 

"I'm not sure actually. It was just on my desk one day." 

"Why would the headquarters personally assign this to us?" Heejin tilted her head a little.

"What's it say?" Vivi questioned. 

"Uuhhh…." The younger detective read the details written inside. "Korean mafia are suspected to be working with the Yakuzas." The duo were shocked seeing that. 

"Japanese mafia??" 

"Whoa, I wasn't expecting that." Sooyoung remarked, while Haseul became more worried. 

"Oh my god, that means we're going to travel!" Heejin smiled excitedly, as if she didn't just hear that they're both going to investigate the mafia again. 

"Will you two be alright? You'll have to buy plane tickets and they're pretty expensive." The captain stated, hoping that they wouldn't go. 

"Ah, they're already provided in here." Hyunjin held them out from the file folder.

"Just promise you'll be safe, ok?" 

"We will, don't worry." Both detectives have a group hug to their worrying captain, in hopes it would reassure her they will be back. No matter what. "Jeon, we got a flight to catch." Hyunjin looked at the tickets' time again. "Right now, actually." 

"Oh, already? Yay!" Haseul chuckled at Heejin's antics, knowing the girl always wanted to visit Japan. 

"Hold on, that means we need our suitcases." 

"We can be quick! Let's go!"

With that being said, the older detective yanked Hyunjin out to the car so they could head home to pack up their luggages before calling a taxi and heading through highways towards the airport. It was pretty quick since not many people were out today, thus they breezed down various streets with ease. Although once there, that was when traffic started becoming a hassle as cars were packed everywhere. Heejin groaned at one point when they were just about to cross on a green light, but it abruptly turned red and forced them to stop a few more minutes. But soon enough, they were both finally stepping into the airport, rolling large suitcases and carrying backpacks with them. As expected, many people recognized them as they casually strolled in. Heejin chuckled hearing pedestrians' surprised gasps and murmurs. She occasionally bowed to them while Hyunjin merely walked by, searching for their assigned airline. The older noticed her struggle before grabbing her ticket. 

"Maybe we should look at what…." Hyunjin arched an eyebrow at why Heejin suddenly stopped speaking before peaking over to see why she was so shocked.

After security staff finally noticed their arrival, they questioned where the detectives were going, to which they both showed their tickets. Going through metal detectors and other checks was a breeze before boarding the plane in first class. Flight attendants offered to store their suitcases away, allowing them to relax till flight took off. Hyunjin snapped various pictures of first class around her while Heejin marveled over the mini TV screen in front of her, as well as the fancy seat she was sitting on. Soon, others began filling up first class, some looking towards them in a mix of admiration and awe. The pilot in command informed everyone that it was time for take off, which prompted the detectives to put their seat belts on. After going over quick airline policies and safety measures, the plane finally took off. Heejin spent the whole flight watching various popular movies while Hyunjin stayed fast asleep for a few hours. 

When it was time for lunch, the older detective happily smiled when her tray of food arrived. But even then, her partner remained snoozing, so she decided to save some snacks for Hyunjin once they landed. Heejin then decided to go on Twitter and see what her friends were up to, especially Yuqi since she was still babysitting Yeojin at the moment. Upon scrolling through her page, it was pretty much just them staying home with Yuna. Both posted about having a sleepover party with Yeojin’s friends to cheer up the girl. Heejin’s mind suddenly raced back to when they’d all witnessed Lia falling from her chair after consuming the venom that laced her tea cup. She could only hope the lawyer could wake up soon as anxiety creeped up a little. Heejin quickly shook her head to rid the bad thoughts away before thinking about what their trip would be like in Japan, this quickly reminded her that this was all real and she was about to experience it for the first time.

Smiling again, the older detective felt ecstatic to be going on this mission and although it was dangerous, that didn’t stop her from feeling any less excited. After a few hours passed by, they'd finally arrived, as the captain pilot announced. Hyunjin woke up through its landing process, stretching out her limbs and yawning as if the plane wasn't shaking right now. Pretty soon, both detectives were boarding off, with their luggages and bags in tow. Luckily enough, there was a pamphlet inside the file folder Sooyoung had given them. They were surprised since the headquarters rarely ever went to this extent of providing for them, but Hyunjin and Heejin shrugged it off anyway. That being said, the duo detectives took a taxi to their designated hotel. However, within a while, they were shocked to see just how luxurious the building was as all of them, including the taxi driver, gazed in awe.

Heejin immediately ran to the window, which offered a beautiful view of the city skyline, while Hyunjin begrudgingly eyed the queen sized bed. She would honestly rather sleep on the floor and not experience the same dread this morning when she found her partner in her bed. Hyunjin shuttered in disgust at the memory before unloading her suitcase that had two bulletproof vests and black coats for both of them. Luckily, she didn't have to pack much as the headquarters had already provided them with some metal storage box in their room, which they'd yet to find. Since Heejin was busy being excited about the hotel and texting friends about it, Hyunjin rolled her eyes and took the moment away from her partner to look around. The search proved somewhat difficult since Heejin constantly marveled over everything fancy looking, but still continued searching anyways. Hyunjin first looked in their closet, bathroom, wardrobes, only to find nothing.

_ Huh? Where could it be…? _

She swore the file noted that there was surely a box somewhere that contained all of the weapons needed for this investigation that they were going to start today. Hyunjin checked the time and realized it was just about afternoon now, so she wanted to hurry. The younger detective checked the whole one more time, only to give up when she couldn't find it, sitting on the couch. Right when Hyunjin was about to message Haseul, Heejin suddenly exclaimed from their bed, holding the metal box. Hyunjin was relieved when she spotted the smile BlockBerry logo on it. 

"Hey, Kim! Seems like this is for us." 

"Yeah, that must contain some stuff we need for the case."

Hyunjin stepped closer before opening the box, satisfied when she saw a familiar array of weapons. Taking out their handguns, they both carefully loaded them before putting in the safety compartment. Luckily, there were two belts inside, along with many accessories for the duo to attach to their belt. As Hyunjin looked downwards, however, there was something that stuck out on top of it all. A white card with handwritten instructions neatly noted in bullet points. Just as she was proceeding to grab it, Heejin was quick to stop her before she could do so, wanting to tour Japan first, but made up a flimsy excuse for it. 

"Wait, Kim. Wanna look around the area first?"

"And by that, you really just want to buy things to take home?" Hyunjin arched an eyebrow.

"Oh come on, don't you want some souvenirs, too? There's so much cool stuff here, plus we have all the time in the day." 

"Or, we can go now while the sun's still out. You know how hard it is to investigate at night??" 

"We have flashlights, it wouldn't be so difficult." The younger sighed, knowing just how stubborn her partner was. 

"…fine. But this will be the only time I let you slide." 

"Yay!!" 

"Wait, are we taking the taxi?"

"I guess so."

"But then that means they'll have to drive to the site we'll go to." 

"Oh yeah…I don't wanna walk there either—" She was interrupted by a knock on their door. Hyunjin opened it to reveal one of the female hotel workers. She spoke in Japanese, but luckily, they'd both studied it during their academy times. 

"Good afternoon! Our staff have received a notice that there's a car prepared for you both by Blockberry Police Force. I've been instructed to give you the keys." The woman handed them over as Hyunjin accepted. They all bowed respectfully to each other, before she left. Both detectives stood there awestruck. 

"Wow…the headquarters really prepared a lot." Hyunjin remarked while looking at the keys in her hand.

"Now that we have our own car, we can go there by ourselves! Let's go touring now!" 

"Wait. There was a note on the box while we were getting ready." 

"Where?" Heejin's question was quickly answered when Hyunjin detached the little paper from it. They both silently read along.

_ 'Ask the chauffeur for the keys to Eclipse. She will drive up to the curb wherever you are after you click the button on the keys. Eclipse will be your transportation for this mission.’ _

"Huh, what a coincidence, we didn't even have to ask." 

"Yeah." The older carefully scanned the handwriting, it seemed familiar to her. "Who's Eclipse?" 

"Don’t know, I guess that's…our driver?" 

"…why would the headquarters send us one when we both know how to drive?" 

"Whatever, let's just meet whoever this is quickly and get the mission over with.

Hyunjin grabbed ahold of Heejin's wrist, though not forgetting their backpacks containing all of their equipment. They both hurried down into the hotel's spacious parking lot, looking for a certain car that matched the keys Hyunjin was gripping. Though surprising enough, there were _ tons _ of luxurious vehicles by the time they both arrived. Once the dots were connected, however, it wasn't too shocking since the hotel was meant for rich people after all. However, this would take them forever to find the exact one. Hyunjin looked at the keys again and only then she realized that their car was a Lexus brand. But detectives walked around, carefully examining each vehicle. They'd occasionally stumble upon a Lexus car, but it always belonged to someone else. Groaning, they continued searching for another while, until halting.

"Ugh, there's no way we'll find that car if we keep wandering around here. It's an endless loop."

"And where the heck is Eclipse?? Shouldn't she be around here somewhere?" 

"I know, right."

"We can just keep pressing the button like I said."

"No, that'll just turn on another car. Don't you know that?"

"Yes, but it's easier that way. We don't have any other choices, so let's just do it.

Heejin reluctantly agreed with a small nod, to which Hyunjin immediately pressed the unlock button again. This time, there was a sudden flash of light in front of them, startling the duo as they yelped and flinched back instantly. Before them, there stood an extravagantly designed Lexus car, its smooth, dark purple cover was practically a mirror, and it just looked too good to be true. The duo detectives took cautious steps towards it, too scared to even look at it. Hyunjin peeked inside, then became shocked when she saw the interior, nearly collapsing. This felt too much like a dream.

"T-there's no way that's our car, r-right?" Heejin hesitantly tapped the door handle with the tip of her finger. Suddenly, its lock clicked, allowing the door to open as she stared with wide eyes. 

On Hyunjin’s side, it did the same thing, allowing her to climb. "I'm assuming it is…." They both entered as the car magically closed. Then, it spoke in a Siri voice.

_ **Welcome aboard the Lexus UX 2019, my name is Eclipse. Please enter your voice identifications in order for me to function fully under your command. ** _

"Under our command?!" Heejin's eyes widened with a mix of shock and awe, her mind in a whirlpool of emotions right now. "And Eclipse is an AI???"

"Do we say our names?" Hyunjin directed her question towards the older, but the car, or whatever this was, answered instead.

_ **Yes. Please state your names.** _

"U-uh…Kim Hyunjin?"

"Jeon Heejin." It seemed to have recognized them when the screen turned blue with a message saying: Access Granted. 

_**It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Ms.Kim and Ms.Jeon. Please address me as Eclipse whenever you need something.** _

"I still have to drive though, don't I?" 

_ **If you would like to do so, Ms.Kim, you can. Otherwise, allow me to operate the vehicle for you.** _

"We would like to tour around Tokyo!" 

"Uh—just for about two or so hours." Hyunjin quickly included. 

_ **Very well. Please enter the locations you would like to visit.** _

Then, the touring escapade went on from there. They brought along their backpacks containing all of their equipment, placing them in the backseat as Eclipse drove to various locations in Tokyo, much to her displeasure. Heejin certainly didn't hold back when she entered various addresses that she looked up while they were still on the plane. The visits ranged from malls, parks, arcades, restaurants, etc. she bought loads and loads of souvenirs along the way, mostly food since she’d promised her friends to buy some for them. The younger detective occasionally purchased stuff here and there as well, but compared to her partner, she only had a small shopping bag while the older had numerous bags shoved in the trunk. Hyunjin wondered if Eclipse was lowkey tired of Heejin, but since it was mostly artificial intelligence, there was no telling in that. _ ("KIM, LOOK IT'S SO FANCY AND SHINY IS THIS A DREAM? TELL ME IT'S NOT! PINCH ME! WAIT, NO YOU PINCH HARD—"). _

On the other hand, Hyunjin wanted to knock her partner out for being, well, herself and constantly squealing every time she saw something cute. However, it would be very hard to talk with people around the city since Heejin was the one fluent in Japanese. Much to the older girl's displeasure, their touring quickly ends within two hours like Hyunjin said. However, despite that, the tour resulted in the detectives being nearly late to their mission, but with help from Eclipse’s self driving speed and intelligence about shortcuts, they resorted to that instead.

_**Where would you like to go next?** _

"Alright Eclipse, please go to this certain location." She typed it out on the screen and pressed entered.

_ **Sorry. This seems to be out of my radar as it is not listed officially.** _

"Huh? Officially?" The younger detective rechecked the address again, looking it up on Google Maps herself, only for it to come up as unknown as well.

"But that's what the headquarters sent." 

"Weird…Eclipse, can you show locations near it?" Within a few seconds, some other addresses popped up on the screen.

_ **Scanning for nearby locations succeeded. Please select one you would like to arrive at.** _

Hyunjin picked whatever, allowing Eclipse to drive off. Both detectives also told her to get there as soon as possible, not expecting that she would take them literally. Every sharp turn to shortcuts, Hyunjin felt like she was about to fly out the window while Heejin was having the time of her life. It was quite weird for them since they'd never experienced anything like this before, but traveling without actually taking the wheel was certainly nice, but also like a roller coaster, oddly enough. Eclipse soon arrived at the address they both wanted it to go to. Hyunjin got flashbacks to the times she foolishly let Heejin drive while the older seemed thrilled at the ride. By then, Hyunjin had to drive the rest of the way. 

"Where was this place again?" She looked around and realized there weren't many houses or buildings around. The outskirts of Tokyo, it seemed.

"The headquarters listed a description. 'Mafia and gang-related activities are suspected of occurring in a construction sight.'" 

"Well where is that then?" 

"Just keep driving."

Hyunjin stepped on the pedal, moving them forward as they carefully observed the area. Heejin narrowed her eyes at certain buildings before directing her attention elsewhere. Hyunjin tried searching, but she was too busy driving. They just needed to simply find some construction site to begin their investigation. The younger detective questioned Eclipse what time it currently was, only realizing it was close to six. Luckily, the sun was still out, thus they could easily investigate their assigned case. Soon enough, Heejin quickly spotted a construction site, pointing at it for Hyunjin to see.

"Hey! There it is!"

"Ugh, finally." The younger detective quickly parked near the area before going to the backseat. 

"Eclipse, please protect my souvenirs." 

_ **Yes, Ms.Jeon.** _

Hyunjin chuckled at this, then muttered under her breath. "Seriously?" 

They both opened their backpacks to grab some equipment. The duo put on their vest, coat, belts, and attached their weapons to it, before entering the site before them, sounds of dirt being squashed under their shoes audibly noisy. Nearing it, there was an odd feeling creeping up to them. Hyunjin’s mind raced to certain thoughts of having to fight with mafia members. Her mind recurred back to when Limbo crashed that ceremony not too long ago. She assumed the 'Korean mafia' would most likely be Limbo for sure. On the other hand, Heejin got her handgun ready in case anything happened.

"You think Limbo is already here?" 

"Don't know. They're most likely meeting right now as we speak."

"What would they want to do in Japan though?"

"Probably the typical mafia stuff." 

"Hm. Could be planning some crime. They've robbed countless banks. They even stole Lethe."

Both detectives finally arrived at the building and took out their flashlights. Inside was dark as ever. Guess the workers didn't install the lights just yet, even though it looked like they almost finished designing this architect. Hyunjin stepped in first while Heejin followed closely behind. At this point, it was necessary to take out their handguns even if nothing happened yet. They inspected many rooms, pushed open doors, carefully hid behind walls and slowly etched towards the edge, then jumping out with their guns pointed at nothing. This continued on for a while, occasionally Heejin would hear the slightest sounds echoing before cautiously approaching it, her gun ready in hand, only realizing that Hyunjin had just accidentally kicked a small pebble. Both detectives decided to rest for a moment so they merely sat on the cold ground, back against the wall and either stared off into space or tried getting dirt out of their nails. The only light source for them was the sun, which obviously wasn't going to last long with time at stake. 

"We should probably leave soon. It's getting darker outside." Heejin remarked, earning an eye roll from Hyunjin. 

"Exactly. Which is why we should've gone here sooner." 

"Whatever, Kim. You're no fun." The younger scoffed at this since touring wasn't their purpose here, first of all. 

"All you want to do is have fun."

"Yes, because I'm stressed out."

"About what?" 

"The dinner. At Diamond House." Hyunjin sighed at this. 

"Haven't you contacted Mia to get some therapy yet? You can't let that night scare you all the time." 

"I know, I'm just…it can happen again." They both stayed silent for a moment. "Sometimes I don't even know what we're doing and why."

"Yeah…not sure if we're even remotely close to finding Hyejoo." They rarely ever talked about her nowadays, much less bringing up her disappearance. 

"We have to be close. We’ve been through so much already."

"It's going to get harder, but we'll be prepared."

"I hope."

Their conversation came to an abrupt end when there was sudden commotion in the distance, causing both to immediately stand up with their guns raised and ready. They tried tracking down the noise as much as possible, walking closer to it. Hyunjin swore she heard someone scolding another person but couldn't pick up their names. She looked over at Heejin, who was glancing back at her, mutely noting that she heard them as well. Moving a bit faster, their footsteps sounded more audibly before they stopped to listen for a sound. Nothing. Their shoulders pressed against the wall as Hyunjin looked behind to silently ask Heejin if she hears anything, only a head shake. The younger then used hand motions, telling her partner that they should jump out and catch what she thinks are the mafia and/or yakuza members. Heejin agrees this time before getting ready to do so. With that being said, both detectives shuffled closer to the edge of the wall, keeping their breathing as quiet as possible. Hyunjin turned her head to the side so Heejin could see behind her as she wordlessly counted down.

_ Three… _

_ Two… _

_ ……one! _

The two detectives did exactly as planned, appearing out of their cover. But they never expected for another pair to do the exact same thing, like a mirror between them. Both sides stared at each other with wide eyes. Hyunjin was the first to put her gun down, followed by everyone else.

"Jisun unnie?? Jiwon unnie???" 

"Hyunjinnie! Long time no see!" Both women immediately hugged their former junior. They separated after a few seconds.

"What are you doing here?" Jiwon questioned, which left Hyunjin confused.

"I was gonna ask you guys the same thing…." She nearly forgot about the other girl. "Oh, this is my partner."

"Hi, I'm Jeon Heejin." 

"Ah! You're the famous Jeon Heejin! Great to finally meet you." Jisun shook hands with her before averting her attention back to Hyunjin. "How have you been, Hyun?"

"Oh, just police and detective stuff." 

"Ah, you must be busy just like us." Jiwon pointed to herself and the other woman. 

"Yeah, I guess so."

"What kind of case are you doing?" 

"Oh the headquarters gave us a file about some Korean mafia suspected of being in Japan to work with the yakuzas." Hyunjin explained while Heejin followed up. 

"And they were supposed to meet here apparently." 

Hearing this, the two women frowned before looking at each other, utterly bewildered by what they'd just heard. Afterwards, Jisun explained first. "Umm that can't be true…."

"Huh? What do you mean?" The younger detective had a bad feeling about this.

"Hyun, that case was specifically meant for us. And _ only _ us."

* * *

Night falls over the city of Seoul as streets flood with many people going out with their friends, popular barbecue restaurants becoming packs, others still stuck at work and doing late shifts till midnight. The maid in Lia Choi's mansion sat on her boss's couch, feeling depressed when she heard news of what happened to the lawyer during her dinner in Diamond House. She couldn't believe anyone would try to do something like that. After working for the Choi family since forever, it wasn't a surprise she remained utterly loyal to Lia throughout her success. She felt like another mom to her, so to see such a horrible thing happen to the young girl hurt her just as much. 

There were documents and files neatly set on the coffee table before her. Lia had given specific instructions that if anything were to happen, the maid would know where to find her files hidden safe in a drawer of her room. Then, she had to wait for a close friend that Lia could trust with those documents. The maid checked her watch, anxiously waiting for that person's arrival while taking some tissues to wipe away some straying tears and blowing her nose. On the other hand, she swore a few gray hairs or so might've grown with all the stress in her mind constantly thinking of Lia being taken to the hospital. The maid called them yesterday, frantically asking if she was fine right after hearing the news in Diamond House. She was more than relieved, of course, but like everyone else, she was scared. Anything could happen. Sudden knocking on the front door interrupted the maid's thoughts as she quickly got up before walking closer to the entrance. A faint voice outside informed her who they were.

"I-it's Kim Dahyun." She immediately opened the door to let her in, noticing how visibly nervous she was. The timid girl adjusted her glasses, shakily taking off shoes before being led into the living room. "Sorry for being late…I kind of lost track of time." Dahyun shyly scratched her neck.

"No worries. I just found the files that Ms.Choi has entrusted you with." 

"O-oh, thanks." Dahyun wiped the sweat on her forehead away before taking some folders and papers from the maid. "Is this everything?" 

"Yes, Ms.Kim. She also specifically instructed me to give this letter to you as well." One look at it made Dahyun slightly chuckle.

_ Oh, Lia. So typical with her fancy stuff. _

The envelope, like always, had a red stamp that sealed it with Lia's initials. She carefully pried it open to take out the letter inside. 

  
  
  


_ Dear Kim Dahyun, _

_ As you're already aware of my request, you should get this message if anything were to happen to me. Everything that I've already gathered should only be given to you. I highly trust you can easily take my place as Yena and Nako's lawyer. The council has already been informed about this, so don't waste time telling them anything. Just work on this trial and prepare as much as you can. They both need you just as much as they need me. Don't feel pressured. I'm not entirely sure what will happen to me in the future, but in the worse case scenario, don't give up on anything. You're highly capable of this, I know for a fact. There wouldn't be anyone else that I trust and I'm glad it's you. _

_ Thank you. _

_ Yours truly, _

_ Lia Choi _

Dahyun frowned as she slowly closed the letter, thoughts plaguing her mind as Lia's words replayed over and over again. There was a part of Dahyun that really hoped the younger lawyer would be fine and get discharged from the hospital soon. But aside from that, how exactly was a nerve wreck like her going to properly hold trial. Sure she's done it a few times, those were little too rare. Even Dahyun's friends and the judge would be surprised to see her stand at the center of attention. But Lia was like a sister she never knew she needed, especially when Dahyun had learned a lot from her as well. Sighing, she turned to the maid. 

"Thanks for this, um…I guess I'll head out now since I was only here for this." 

"Wait. There's one more thing." 

"Yeah?" 

"Lia knows she would be dealing with the mafia since both Yena and Nako were members of them. And since you're their lawyer now, this is something you'll need to keep yourself safe." 

"K-keep me safe? What do you mean?"

Dahyun arched an eyebrow at this, her anxiety spiking up drastically as she watched the older woman appear out of her room, a gray, somewhat thin box in her hands. It looked like the common ones meant for gifting. She held it out for Dahyun to grab, which was done so, only the younger was surprised when it felt a bit heavy. Just when Dahyun wanted to ask what the box had inside, she was ushered to the exit.

"You should go home now as it’s getting late." 

"I…alright. Thanks." Timidly nodding along, the lawyer finally walked away, only to be stopped with a sudden hand on her shoulder, nearly scaring the soul out of her.

"Oh and, open that box _ when _ you get home. Ok?" 

"Y-yeah, yeah…thank you." Dahyun, now slightly freaking out, speedily walked towards Lia's garage where her car was before hopping in.

_ That was weird… _

Starting the engine, Dahyun finally drove out of the garage and out to the streets, Lia’s mansion slowly disappearing in the distance as she got further away from it. To distract herself, Dahyun put on some calm music on the radio. Pretty soon, she finally arrived home, aside from busy traffic, and laid her files beside her nightstand, as well as the box, resting on top of stacks of papers and folders. Dahyun got ready for bed before continuing to go on her phone. She messaged a group chat of friends about what happened tonight, most of them still in shock about the incident at Diamond House. Dahyun's memory suddenly went back to yesterday where every news report mentioned Lia's name and…it took awhile for her to let the information sink in. She looked back to her group chat merely talking about their day and making plans to visit Lia when they have time. While they were busy texting, Dahyun averted her attention to the box resting on her nightstand. 

The maid had told her to only open it when she got home. Well, Dahyun was in her house already. With that being said, she sat up before grabbing it, still feeling a bit heavy in her hands. Taking a deep breath, she carefully reached for the lid as it slowly, but smoothly opened. Dahyun suddenly yelped upon seeing the item, but she flinched too hard and a handgun dropped on her bed.

"What the hell??" Dahyun sat far away from the weapon like it was a scary bug, too frightened to even get close. Then she quickly realized. "Keep myself safe…oh my god." This was more serious than ever anticipated.

* * *

Hyunjin was pasting back and forth, lost in her mind as she thought deeply about why the headquarters had sent her and Heejin to Japan when they weren’t meant to be here in the first place. Jisun’s statement nonetheless felt a brick to the head, though the older assured her it was probably just an accidental mix up between their files. Hyunjin knew she was merely saying that to calm her down, but now wasn’t the time, especially when they were already here. None of them knew if Limbo and/or the yakuzas would be present at this moment, which was nerve-wracking, to shortly summarize. Heejin and Jiwon were off on the other side discussing the possibilities of their files being mismatched. However, one thing that was known for sure: the headquarters would never make a simple mistake like this. And even if they did, it would immediately be resolved. So, what exactly happened? Who sent Hyunjin and Heejin their case.

“Don’t worry too much about it. What’s most important is that we finish this investigation and get you two home safe.”

“I know, unnie, I’m just…more paranoid than ever. I mean—”

“Like we said, Jiwon and I are here. I’m aware you’re both still somewhat recovering from your previous cases so we’ll protect you as much as possible.”

“And, we need to stay alert right now. Who knows if Limbo and the yakuzas are working together or not as we speak.”

“Which is exactly why we’re here, to stop them from whatever they’re planning to do.”

“Hyun, what did your file tell you about this case?”

“Pretty much this location and preventing the mafia.”

“That’s it??” Jisun frowned as she expected for them to know more. 

“They didn’t say anything else?”

“No. Were they supposed to?”

“Well, our case file informed us that the Korean mafia was planning to raid another location somewhere in Seoul or Busan, recruiting the help of the yakuzas, hence they came here. The Japanese police reported to our headquarters that gang related cases were happening more often in Tokyo so they suspected Limbo might be behind it as well.”

“But how do they know about Limbo then?” Heejin questioned as Jiwon easily answered. 

“Because our headquarters work closely with them, even members within our stations are Japanese.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.” Hyunjin was in slight awe. 

“You rarely ever got out of your bubble to know this.” She teased the younger girl, causing her to frown. 

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?” They both giggled at their junior, then Jisun spoke up. 

“Anyways, let’s go upstairs and see if there’s anything.”

All agreed before doing just that, carefully taking the ladder as night casted darkness around. The lights that’d been set up by the construction workers didn’t help much as it was still difficult to see, but they could manage. Jisun led as the others followed her further into the new floor, not seeing much difference from a few minutes ago. Didn’t seem much like a hangout for mafia members either. Hyunjin, Heejin and Jiwon then went around on their own momentarily, searching for anything seemingly suspicious. Time passed by as they spent about an hour or so investigating, but nothing turned up. Jisun decided if this case was cold, then they’ll leave within half an hour before receiving agreements from all three. 

“Hm…I can’t find anything…how about you, Kim?”

“Same. Guess they didn’t really come.”

“This does seem like a place they’d be after all. It’s hidden from cities and deserted till construction workers come back.”

“You think…Limbo or the yakuza members could’ve realized we knew they’d be here?”

“Like, beforehand?”

“Yeah.”

“But then how would they know?”

“I don’t know, maybe somehow—”

“Hey, everyone.” Jiwon called in the distance to get their attention. “Come check this out.”

“You found something?” Jisun remarked with interest since they’d been here all day and found literally nothing. Till now, thankfully. 

“Some kind of message, it seems…?” 

“Huh, more like scribbles to me.” She arched an eyebrow, then Hyunjin suddenly stepped in upon noticing something eerily familiar. 

“Wait a minute. Jeon, you recognize that right?”

“Yeah, ‘XIX, we will bite back’….”

“What? It’s always been ‘XIIX’.” But that wasn’t exactly the point. 

“Wait, you guys have seen this before??”

“Yeah, we’ve encountered these a few times during our investigations. Kim and I concluded it was definitely from Limbo.” 

“Hm…then that means….”

Despite the pitch darkness around them, Jisun looked behind her before inspecting around their area. Jiwon immediately noticed this then did the same, sensing that they both knew what was going on. Aside from that, Hyunijn was taking a quick picture of the message plastered on the wall while Heejin took some notes as the two older partners stood side by side, glancing into the darkness as if something was lurking within it. Jisun narrowed her eyes, gun clicking and ready in hand. They weren't alone. 

“Wait.” She whispered.

The duo detectives finished then turned around only to be surprised seeing their seniors tense, staring off in the distance. Hyunjin arched a confused eyebrow since she'd never seen Jisun and Jiwon behave like this before. But there was obviously something wrong. Then loud clutterings suddenly averted their attention to the side, again seeing only darkness. Even their flashlights didn’t help. They stood just below a flimsy bulb that looked like it was about to short out any second. Heejin felt uneasy about this while unconsciously tugging on Hyunjin’s sleeve. The younger detective didn’t seem to mind and pulled out her handgun. At that moment, what seemed like a knife suddenly struck the light bulb, shattering it to pieces.

_ “SPLIT!!!” _

Jisun ordered loudly at the top of her lungs, which everyone immediately obeyed. Limbo was here this whole time and baited them. The four quickly ducked to hide behind objects near them. Just in time too, as a bullet whizzed past where Hyunjin had been standing and embedded into the wall. Pretty soon an all out battle quickly ensued, filling up the seemingly vacant area. The detectives should’ve expected there’d be a bunch of them waiting to launch a massive ambush. Jisun and Jiwon fought on one side and Heejin and Hyunjin on the other as there were occasional gunshot fires around, but nothing too fatal. Yet. The younger detectives had their backs against each other while they were both facing their own opponents. On Heejin’s was a heavily tattooed man menacingly glaring at her while a suited woman appeared before Hyunijn. Both a yakuza and Limbo member respectively. And both just so happened to attack the two detectives simultaneously, which allowed them to duck in time for their enemies to strike each other. Hyunjin had to stop herself from barking in laughter and soon had to fight more people with Heejin. 

On the other hand, Jisun and Jiwon were doing absolutely fine on the hand, occasionally working together when one would push a bad guy towards the other detective to get kicked or punched right in the face. Both mafia groups soon realized they were being totaled one after one, which inevitably led them to finally use their guns completely, not wanting their butts kicked in combat anymore. It was a matter of time when Heejin noticed within seconds before telling her teammates immediately. Jisun shouted for all of them to take cover, but Jiwon narrowly missed the timing, causing a bullet wound right through her ankle as she shouted in pain

_ “Fuck!!” _ It stung horribly and felt like fire. Hyunjin hastily pulled the older girl further away from the constant firing. 

“Shit! Jisun unnie, we have to get out of here, this is a damn warzone!” 

“Y-yeah, they’re not stopping anytime soon!” Heejin shouted from where her partner and Jiwon were behind her. Unfortunately, with the lack of time, Jisun could only duck to cover across from the others, leaving them somewhat separated. 

Quickly planning a distraction, she gestured for Heejin to move to the left, away from the bullets, and for Hyunjin and Jiwon to stay put before moving to the right herself. Gunshots sounded and Heejin took a deep breath before peeking out from what she was hiding behind and shot a few fires, luckily hitting some of them as they all turned towards her direction. Hyunjin peeked out from around the corner of the object just in time to see Jisun barrel into one of the suited men and knock him into the others, making them fall onto each other like dominos. She took the opportunity to shoot some of the distracted ones down. Jisun then grabbed one of the men by his collar and turned him around, using him as a human shield for the oncoming bullets, allowing Heejin to take the opportunity to launch herself over her cover and kick down a couple of men. Hyunjin took aim and fired at enemies in Heejin’s blind spots and soon enough, all those who had once been standing were either dead or unconscious and handcuffed. 

But to their horror, more footsteps sounded near as more approached. And once again, numerous shots were fired at them as they quickly ducked for cover. All four detectives were able to miraculously get away safely and unharmed. However: they were stuck with no plan.

“You two get Jiwon out of here and to hospital _ now! _”

“Then what about you???” Hyunjin practically demanded, utterly shocked as to why her older friend would stay behind in this hell. 

“I’ll call for backup! Now hurry and get out while you can!!” Without hesitation, Jisun bravely rushed in, somehow able to dodge the onslaught of firing from Limbo and the yakuzas while shooting a few bullets at them herself, astonishingly hitting one or two before ducking to another cover again. Back at their spot, Hyunijn told Heejin to get herself and Jiwon out to safety. 

“Leave quickly, I’ll stay behind with Jisun unnie.”

“Hyun! Are you sure??” 

“Yes, you’re bleeding out already and you look pale. Get to the hospital right now! Both of you.” Just as she stood and was about to go in, Heejin instantly grabbed onto her sleeve. 

“Wait, Kim! I-it’s dangerous in there, you could get hurt, o-or even—”

“I won’t. Just hurry already!”

Then not wasting anymore time, Hyunjin quickly rushed in, miraculously not getting wounded before taking cover in the same spot as Jisun, surprising the older detective and getting briefly scolded. But all the gun firing practically deafened their ears as Jisun was maybe a little glad that Hyunjin came to help her, despite the extreme danger they were in. Both sides constantly traded fires for a while and seemed to go on forever. Luckily, Jisun was able to contact the local police for backup, which they responded by informing them that multiple oncoming units were quickly dispatched. Soon, immense relief washed over the detectives when they heard familiar sirens just outside as numerous police cars piled in front of the building’s entrance. This was, of course, bad news for Limbo and their yakuza partners as they all instantly halted their firing before utterly panicking, desperately searching for ways to escape. Hyunjin and Jisun quickly ran for the exit and easily passed the officers by showing their IDs. 

Upon finally reaching outside for fresh air and some more light, they saw Heejin and Jiwon waiting in an ambulance. Her ankle was completely wrapped in bandage, first things first before thoroughly being checked in the hospital. Heejin stayed close by to comfort, but nearly had a nervous breakdown just knowing Hyunjin and Jisun were still up in the construction building with murderous mafia people, had Jiwon not calmed her down enough so she could just take a deep breath. Heejin exhaled when she saw them make it out safely and unharmed, aside from some cuts and bruises sustained during the practical war zone. It was finally time for them to leave their mission for now, having more than enough evidence that Limbo and the yakuzas were planning something.

“Aw, you guys are leaving already?” Jisun slightly pouted while sitting next to Jiwon’s bed. 

“As much as we’d love to stay, we were only here for the mission.”

“Did you at least get a tour of this place? It’s full of many cool spots.” 

“Oh trust me,” Hyunjin side eyed Heejin before replying to Jiwon’s suggestion, “we’ve been to plenty already.” 

The older detective merely rolled her eyes. “Anyways, did the headquarters assign any other missions for you?”

“Nope. Investigating Limbo’s connections with the yakuza was enough. We’ll stay here for a few days and work with police till the case is fully sorted out.”

“Alright. Jeon and I will head back to Korea then.”

“Stay safe, Hyun, Heejin.” Jisun stood up to embrace her two juniors. “Oh and if you happen to meet a woman named Gyuri, say hi to her for me!”

“Who’s Gyuri?” Hyunjin asked, which immediately made the older woman blush as Jiwon chuckled behind her. 

“She, um, m-my—”

“Girlfriend.” She was rudely interrupted by her partner. If Jiwon wasn’t injured and pitifully sitting in a hospital bed, Jisun definitely would’ve beat her ass up. 

“You have a girlfriend?? For how long?” This was certainly new to Hyunjin. 

“Only for a few years, alright? Don’t make it a big deal, jeez.” She muttered while rubbing the back of her neck.

The younger detective chuckled before agreeing. “Fine. Jeon and I are going home to rest, then catch our flight home tomorrow morning.”

Both Jisun and Jiwon pouted. “Aw, so you’re really going?”

“As much as we want to stay, we have to get home and discuss some important things. It was great seeing you guys again.”

“Take care, ok, kid?” Jisun shook hands together with Hyunjin, then abruptly pulled her into a bone crushing embrace, causing the younger girl to groan. “You think you can leave without a hug?” She jokingly teased before separating. 

“Gosh, unnie. You’re so cheesy.”

“Get a good night’s sleep. I’m happy I get to see you again, but mission overlaps are very rare. We’ll discuss with the headquarters about this, too.”

Hyunjin nodded understandingly. “Sounds like a plan.”

Afterwards, they waved their goodbyes at their seniors and finally headed out of the hospital towards Eclipse, who was waiting outside in the parking lot. She, or it, took them back to their hotel room as the rivals remained silent the whole ride back, heads occasionally deep in thought or looking outside the window to gaze at the city. They barely noticed as they arrived at the hotel until Eclipse’s voice asked if they would like to sleep in the car. They were still quiet as they took the elevator to their room and washed up before calling it a night. Except for Hyunjin, however. The younger detective decided to stay up longer to check in with things back in Korea, messaging Haseul about what she and Heejin found during their mission in Japan, though not forgetting to tell her captain about the fraud file as well. Hyunjin sent some images of the ‘XIIX’ marking on the wall and other things in that same building. Haseul informed her she’ll question the headquarters about this, which Hyunjin quickly objected to, saying she and Heejin could do it themselves. That is, until the captain immediately informed her that someone requested to meet both of them. Hyunjin had asked who it was, but Haseul had to go finish work before promising she’ll respond tomorrow. 

Sighing, the younger detective shut off her phone, then checked time: 12 in the morning. With that being said, she quickly went to bed and slept farthest as possible from her snoring partner as sleep finally took over. That plan obviously failed when she woke up the next morning and Heejin was once again snuggling against Hyunjin before being shoved off. The younger detective groaned in disgust before rushing to the bathroom to use it first. Soon, they finished packing up in time for breakfast that the hotel provided, which they both wolfed down.

The detectives’ trip to their terminal was quite the journey on such an early morning. First things first, they had to figure out whether or not they were going to leave Eclipse behind, but she’d suddenly told them that she was already booked in a cargo plane to South Korea. Then in came more surprises when their arrival at the airport entrance was _ swarmed _ with reporters and cameras flashing at them. Many people kept trying for an interview with them, but Heejin revealed that she and Hyunjin didn’t have any time and needed to reach their terminal. But other than that, there were also ‘fans’ in the crowd as dozens of security guards kept reporters at further distance to allow the detectives to hasten their pace. After going through police checks and more waiting, the detectives finally boarded first class once again, to their own surprise. At this point, they were feeling spoiled but enjoyed this nonetheless. 

Throughout their whole flight, Hyunjin busied herself with texting with Haseul, Vivi and Sooyoung about the mission in one group chat, which somehow led the three ahjummas to argue about movie characters as Hyunjin amusedly smiled at them throwing hilarious insults at each other. Beside her, Heejin sent numerous pictures to a whole chat consisting of everyone in her station, as well as Saerom’s. They’d recently added Yeji and Ryujin after Jiwoo had invited them in. Heejin would often come back to the chat and see it flooded with her friends either gossipping about certain topics, jokingly arguing, trolling, etc. Overall, this morning turned out to be more light hearted and genuinely nice after an entire day of hell dealing with the mafia. Within a few minutes, the captain pilot announced they'll be arriving in South Korea shortly, much to their relief. 

Once the landing process finished, the detectives went through the last security checks before exiting Incheon airport, feeling at ease to finally be in their birth country. Though right before leaving, Heejin asked the workers about a certain cargo plane carrying Eclipse and when it would be arriving, in which they responded it should arrive by tomorrow. With that being said, the detectives immediately head back to their station and meet up with Haseul. By the time Hyunjin and Heejin arrived there, they both saw her _ furious _ on the phone, even Sooyoung and Vivi kept a far distance for their own safety. All of them merely watched and waited for Haseul to finish yelling at whoever was the other side. Poor soul. On the other hand, Jiwoo pouted while plugging her ears with her fingers while Shuhua didn’t bat a single eye as she wore large headphones that seemed to have blocked Haseul’s cursing completely. When the captain finally finished and hung up, she slammed the phone down, causing everyone to flinch in fear. Hyunjin raised an eyebrow at this before looking over at Heejin, who was staring back. 

The older detective has obviously been through this before, while Hyunijn, only having been transferred here a few months ago, has never seen Haseul so enraged before. She cleared her throat to get the captain’s attention, which was responded with a puff of air. Heejin could practically see streams coming out of Haseul’s ears.

“About time you two arrive. I spoke with a very incompetent employee who couldn’t get his head straight as I explained your mismatched file.”

“Why don’t you take a break, alright?” Hyunjin cautiously walked up to the older woman and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“Not until the headquarters explains this to me and promises that this shit won’t happen again.”

“Unnie, please. This is stressing you out too much.”

“Yeah, I agree, Seul.” Sooyoung was quick to step in after Hyunjin easily defused the situation.

The captain sighed, very tired after her altercation with a dumb worker. “Fine. Sorry, I’m just….”

“Just relax, unnie. Who were you talking to anyway?”

“Ugh, Shindong.” Everyone, even Shuhua, collectively cringed and groaned, quickly sympathizing with her. 

“God, I’m so sorry, Seullie.” Sooyoung said it in a joking manner, but anyone would know she was serious. This made Haseul chuckled amusedly nonetheless. 

“Anyways, Hyunjin, Heejin.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes?” They responded simultaneously. 

“Someone named Kim Dahyun wanted to meet you guys in that cafe near the park. This is her business card for you guys.” 

“Oh, thanks.” Heejin took the paper from Haseul’s hand, only to be surprised when she took a good look at it. “She’s a lawyer?? So then—”

“Yes, Dahyun is the one who’s now taking Lia’s place for the trial. She also wants to discuss further details about it with you two, so don’t make her wait any longer and hurry.”

“On it. Did she say anything else?”

“Not really.” Vivi answered. “She did seem pretty shy and nervous.”

Sooyoung chuckled at the memory. “Also very cute, too.” This earned an eye roll and a light jab to the side.

As they quickly made their way out of the station, the duo quickly stopped on a sidewalk to catch a taxi ride. Heejin then spoke up about their mission in Japan. “You know…I was thinking about our fraud file while on the way home in the plane. I theorized something.”

“Like what?” Hyunjin questioned without actually looking at her partner since she was too busy finding a taxi.

“It might’ve been a mole within the station. O-or the headquarters.”

This made Hyunjin turn to her with eyebrows raised. “That…does make sense. And could’ve happened.”

“So then, it’s definitely possible.”

“We don’t know for sure. Plus, we’re all too occupied with our thing to really look into that right now.”

“But—”

Before Heejin could say anymore, a taxicab finally noticed them as they hopped in. The whole ride was silent as both detectives were deep in thought. Heejin’s point still stood. There could’ve definitely been a mole behind that’d set them up in an overlapping mission with Jisun and Jiwon. That was probably why it couldn’t have been possible for the headquarters to make mistakes like this. So who exactly could’ve done this and why? They were both so deep in their minds that they barely noticed the taxi driver informing them that the cab was getting closer to their location. Once there, they quickly paid him before entering the cafe, looking for a certain someone named Dahyun. But luckily, the woman herself waved her hand to get their attention upon immediately recognizing them. Hyunjin and Heejin both sat across from her as she cleared before reaching out.

“Pleasure to finally meet you, detectives. My name is Dahyun and I’m a-a lawyer. I work with Choi Lia.” Dahyun silently cursed at herself for stuttering like an idiot. 

“I’m Kim Hyunjin, nice to meet you, too, Dahyun.”

“And I’m Jeon Heejin. So you’re replacing Lia for Yena and Nako’s trial?”

“Y-yeah, I suppose so. Lia is still recovering in the hospital and the doctors told me it’ll take a long while before she’s back on her feet. And in the meantime…I have to take on this case for her.” It was getting obvious that Dahyun was nervous to discuss this, therefore, Hyunjin just cut to the chase.

“Are you nervous about this, Dahyun-sshi?”

“Yes, sorry…the pressure is insane. Lia’s ten times better than me at this lawyer stuff. I may have graduated law school, but I’m always so nervous and timid about everything.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, you got this, Dahyun.” Heejin tried comforting her before quickly noticing they haven’t even ordered drinks yet. “How about we buy something from the menu and then discuss the issue? That can take your mind off of things.”

“S-sure, good idea.”

Afterwards, they did just that, waiting in line for a few minutes until it was finally time for them to order. Hyunijn only went for a honey tea, Heejin vanilla frappuccino, and Dahyun iced coffee. They discussed the same details like with Lia back in Diamond House, going over things and what Dahyun planned to do slightly differently. The detectives gave her everything they knew about Yena and Nako’s background, revealing their past struggle with poverty, Limbo, etc. Dahyun made sure to jot everything single detail down in order to formulate her conclusion on this trial. Hyunjin and Heejin were requested to be there and testify for them, only one factor was missing. Dahyun frowned as she looked over Lia’s files she’d brought along with her, then back to her notes.

“So, to conclude this, you guys need to find Yena’s parents. In order to minimize her life sentence, they can defend her. After all, they’re basically responsible for this whole thing.”

“Crap, I forgot about that….”

“Yeah. Lia said they could be anywhere. Or even dead.” 

“Oh my.” Being close with the young lawyer herself, she just knew Lia said it in an eerily calm voice. “Do you two have any leads to Yena’s parents or suspect where they could possibly be?”

“For now, uh, nothing so far.” Heejin hesitated. 

“Don’t worry. We’ll find them for sure and try our best.”

“Alright. Well, good luck. Also, this might help you with your search.” Dahyun passed a paper to the duo. It was a list of checks full of large numbers. 

“What is this?” Hyunjin narrowed her eyes, recognizing a few companies on it. 

“These were Mr. and Mrs.Choi’s last payments in Korea about 4 years ago. They haven’t made any more since then, so it’s likely they moved somewhere else.”

“Wait a minute…Cosmic Corporations.” The older detective pointed out.

“Kim Eunseo’s company?”

“Yeah.” As they both talked amongst themselves, Dahyun awkwardly took a sip of ice coffee when her phone suddenly buzzed with a notification. It was from one of her friends from the law firm informing the council wanted to speak with her. Dahyun felt her heart rate increase drastically as her eyes widened with shock, before hastily composing herself. 

“H-hey, um—sorry to interrupt, but my boss wants me right now, so I should really get going. So sorry.” Before the detectives could question her any further, she was already racing out of the cafe and into her car. Hyunjin and Heejin watched in amusement momentarily, then quickly refocused on their task at hand. 

“Wanna go home and rest for a bit? Then we can tell Haseul unnie about this.”

“Well before that, it’s best to plan on what we’re going to do first.” The older detective let out a sigh, knowing her partner was right. 

“I miss Eclipse already.” 

As the two detectives head out of the cafe, a woman wearing sunglasses, a hat, dressed in a trench coat and jeans was sitting behind them before they left, her gaze lingering on their backs until they disappeared behind a wall. Smirking to herself, she fished out her phone from her pocket, quickly dialing a number. The woman anticipated and waited patiently for about two rings until the other person finally picked up.

“Hey boss, got some news for you.”

_ “Tell me what I need to know.” _

“They’re gonna pay a little visit to Cosmic Corps and talk with the CEO.”

_ “That's cute. They have a lead at last.” _

“Yes, but,” she spoke in a hushed tone, “Choi Lia has a replacement. Someone named Kim Dahyun. They got their next clue from her.”

_ “Hm. So Lia really planned this through, huh?” _

“What’s the plan? We can’t be revealed to the entire world.”

_ “Those pesky detectives and that lawyer are utterly troublesome to our plan, so…what better way to stop them than rid those scums of Earth from existence?” _

An amused chuckle sounded. “You got it, boss. Guess I have a new, easy mission.”

_ “That’s what I like to hear. I trust you’ll make it quick, right, Jinsoul?” _

“Certainly….” The blonde’s expression turned dark as she smirked, already coming up with an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been about a year and a half since we started this story and now Jinsol is finally here lmao girl of the month things
> 
> Please do leave comments and kudos, we'd really appreciate it and are very thankful for everyone reading our au ❤


	31. Vague Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of short, but we don't feel like keeping you guys waiting any longer. Enjoy!

  


Taking another cab, the two detectives finally made it home and immediately went to their own rooms. Heejin didn’t realize how much she loved her bed and comfortable pillows, despite only being away for about forty eight hours. Hyunjin immediately freshened up in her bathroom before going downstairs to the kitchen and fixed up breakfast. Heejin smelled a delicious aroma of homemade pasta, and didn’t hesitate to rush downstairs. She begged Hyunjin to let her have some since she was hungry, even though the younger detective had only made enough for herself. Eventually, they both ended up eating together in the living room as Hyunjin emailed Eunseo for a visit to her company and asked for an interview. Heejin wasn’t sure whether this would work or not since as a CEO, Eunseo would most likely be busy. However, the younger detective argued that it was worth the shot. As they were finishing up breakfast, Heejin took up the whole couch, which left her sitting on the ground with a laptop on their coffee table. 

  


“Jeon can you please get your feet off? I wanna sit.” Hyunjin grumbled, moving her suitcase to sit beside the coffee table and out of their walkways. 

“What’s the harm in it? We can always clean our stuff later.” Heejin said, justifying her actions. She sighed, annoyed and was about to tell Heejin off as her phone rang. Hyunjin frowned at the unknown number before picking up and putting the call on speaker.

“Hello?

_ “Hey~~! Is this Kim Hyunjin?” _

“Y…yes?” 

_ “This is Eunseo, CEO and founder of Cosmic Corporations. It’s great to finally meet you! I’ve heard a lot about you guys on the news. Cool stuff! Big fan of you and Detective Jeon!” _

Heejin slightly blushed and was rather floored knowing the creator of one of the biggest companies in Korea admired them. “Thank you, Ms.Kim, I’m—”

_ “Oh _ ** _please_ ** _ , don’t be formal. You can just call me Eunseo. Besides, I already feel old enough when people address me like that.” _

“S-sorry, Eunseo-ssi. As you can see in the email, we would like to discuss some important matters with you, if you don’t mind.”

“Just for clarifications, we’re doing an investigation for a trial.”

_ “Oh~! Right! A little birdie told me I could be of assistance! I’d love to help as much as possible.” _

“We need the records for any family with the surname Choi that had purchased a boat from your corporation. If you could provide us with those records, that would be great.” Hyunjin said, ignoring the wide eyes Heejin was giving her. The older detective was only shocked because there was a high chance Eunseo wouldn’t allow it. Or so she initially thought.

_ “Ohhh, the Choi family! Nice people, they were. Now usually we protect customers’ privacy and keep our records confidential but in this case, I’ll make an exception for you two.” _

“Thank you so much!”

_ “No problem! I should have the documents ready soon so if you could drop by my office then?” _

“Alright thank you very much, Eunseo-sshi. We’ll be on our way right now.” Hyunjin said before they exchanged goodbyes and hung up the phone. 

Heejin stood up from their couch, smiling. “Let’s go prove Yena’s innocence.”

  


Hyunjin hung up the call on her phone and proceeded upstairs to get dressed as Heejin closely followed behind. Both detectives quickly dressed in their usual attires, while also debating whether or not they should keep their handguns with them. Hyunjin had expressed it was too irrational and that they’ll be fine, but Heeijn’s anxiety countered that and she equipped her handgun away in her belt. The younger girl rolled her eyes and walked out of the house first, not even bothering to take any weapons along. She failed to notice Heejin sneaking another handgun onto her belt, which she only did in case Hyunijn needed it. She never understood why her partner was so carefree despite after what had nearly happened to them at Diamond House. Heejin felt as if she could never be the same, instead always being on high alert and wary of things around her. One would say she was way too paranoid, but she just couldn’t help it. 

Hyunjin, on the other hand, didn’t think too much of it. Sure, the girl had suggested they would be on alert, but then after a while, the attempted assasination didn’t mean much to her. Hyunjin had stopped worrying as less as a few weeks past the incident and was visibly calm. But Heejin clearly wasn’t. As they were on the road towards Eunseo’s building, she was thinking about seeing their good friend Mia again some day to discuss the amount of stress and anxiety that had drastically grown since their dinner at the Diamond House. Also because Heejin missed her best friend dearly. Soon, however, her thoughts were interrupted when Hyunjin finally arrived at their destination and parked the car. But before they got out, she suddenly questioned. 

  


“Hey…I just realized. How does Kim Eunseo have my phone number?” It was directed to no one in particular, but she unconsciously asked Heejin as if the older detective knew. 

“I don’t know. Ask her when we get there.” With that, they both finally hopped out, but didn’t go inside just yet. “Um—do you think they have metal detectors inside?”

“Probably, why?”

“O-oh, uh, nothing, nothing at all. Just curious is all.”

“…you took a gun along, didn’t you?” 

A brief silence. “……yes.”

_ “Jeon!!” _ Hyunjin snapped immediately, frustrated at her partner for still being irrational when they’re not even in the face of a threat right now. 

“What? You can’t blame me for being more alert than ever!”

“More like you’re putting us both at risk! Put your damn gun away right now. If they find it when we’re inside, they’re going to call the cops which means our own friends and the headquarters will be on our asses. And I will _ never _ stand for that stupid lecture ever again.”

“Ok, ok fine!” Heejin said and hesitantly stashed both guns away in the car drawer.

“You brought two?!”

“One for you and me.” 

“Oh my god, just—put them away. Jesus….”

  


Hyunjin would be lying if she said she wasn’t flattered in the slightest that Heejin was considerate enough to bring one for her, but besides the point, she shook her head from the thought and didn’t think too much of it while quickly heading inside, the older detective following right behind. By the fancy looks of it all, Eunseo’s wealth was very much on display with her building’s highly extravagant architectural design. Everywhere the detectives looked, their eyes were always met with absolute beauty. To say they were just stunned by the elegance of Eunseo’s office would be an understatement, on top of feeling quite out of place in their detective uniforms. Numerous modern paintings plastered on smooth walls, lamps illuminated and glowed warmly in the area as if they were welcoming them, and lots of complex sculptures displayed. This place was practically a museum, which was of course overwhelming. Hyunjin and Heejin didn’t even know where to start walking, but luckily, a suited employee had noticed the detectives entered. She led them towards their designated location to Eunseo’s office, occasionally answering any questions they had about the building. At this point, she was basically their tour guide, but didn’t seem to mind at all, rather amused at how fascinated the detectives were. Soon, after a three minute elevator ride, they finally arrived in front of large doors.

  


“This is Ms.Kim’s office, I’ll leave you both to it.” Before the detectives could even respond, she had already excused herself and walked away. Hyunjin shrugged before turning towards the entrance. 

“Well, here goes nothing.” Pushing it open, they both cautiously walked inside. The room’s only source of light was the sun, which meant this floor was the highest one. 

“Eunseo-ssi?” Heejin called out to her, but no responses returned. 

“Where is she?”

“Don’t know. She’s supposed to be here.”

“Hey!!” An enthusiastic greeting startled the duo as they instinctively turned around, only to see the CEO herself, smiling brightly. “Sorry for the hold up, there were a few papers I forgot to fill out on the way here.”

“Oh, it’s fine. We just arrived anyway.” Hyunjin reassured, which Eunseo nodded understandingly. 

“Ah, great. Have a seat! I’m sure there’s much to discuss.”

Both detectives sat down on one of the softest chairs ever across from her before Heejin started first. “There certainly is. We know you’ve had many particular customers in the past, but the people we’re asking about today are really important.” 

“I see. What’s so important about them?”

“It’s, well, sort of complicated. For a quick background story, Jeon and I are participating in a trial for a close friend. Her name is Choi Yena and she was a part of the mafia, Limbo.”

“Mafia?? Seriously?” Eunseo’s eyes widened in surprise. 

“Yeah, we know it’s shocking, but that’s basically the gist of it. Her parents, being poor, had borrowed money from loan sharks before and couldn’t pay that amount back, therefore, they fled without her. Yena was left alone to fend for herself, which ultimately resulted in her joining Limbo in the first place. We want to help her as much as possible, so to do that, we need her parents.”

“Wow…what a story. What can they do, if I may ask?” 

Heejin took her chance to respond. “They have the concrete evidence that we need to prove to court that Yena’s sentencing should be more lenient than a life sentence.” 

“Now, all we need to know is if you have any information about Mr. and Mrs.Choi.” Hyunjin pulled out the paycheck Dahyun had given to her in the cafe and handed it to Eunseo, who examined it closely.

“Oh, right! They made quite an interesting purchase from me.”

“Do you recall anything they mentioned about wanting to buy this boat, perhaps?”

“Hmmm…said something about meeting a close friend at a harbor…?”

“‘A close friend’?” Heejin nearly exclaimed as she and her partner were on the edge of their seats. 

“They could’ve used the loan sharks’ money to afford that.” 

“Definitely because it should have been quite expensive.”

“Oh, it was.” Eunseo marveled when she remembered them purchasing one of the most costly ones. “The 2018 Azimut 77S, a pontoon yacht that can travel thirty miles per hour. It’s price was about a billion won.”

“Whoa….” Heejin gasped as both detectives exchanged surprised looks, already theorizing reasons and conclusions.

“But until we find them, we’ll know the full story for sure.”

“Have they said anything else to you Eunseo-sshi?”

“Not that I recall. They actually sounded pretty nervous and sort of frantic when talking with me about buying that specific boat. You won’t _ believe _how long it took me and employees to count all of the coins and money they shoved at us!” Heejin was quick to document all of this information down, before asking the CEO to continue. “Aside from that, they were quite desperate for it, but after we finished counting their amount, they didn’t have enough so then they resorted to begging.”

“Hm…they might’ve been escaping from those loan sharks.” The older detective suggested and looked towards Hyunjin who agreed nodding. 

“Eunseo-sshi, we’re really sorry if this is too much to ask, but do you mind coming to the trial with us? So you can prove this paycheck to be true.”

“To trial?? I’d love to!” She eagerly stated without any hesitation whatsoever, which was concerning. “I’ve always been curious about what it felt like to participate in these kinds of stuff. Count me in!”

“U-uh—alright.” Heejin raised an eyebrow, before continuing as Hyunjin tried not to laugh. “Well, since you’re very inclined with this, we’ll be sure to notify our headquarters about this soon. And maybe after that, they’ll tell you about what will go on in the trial.” 

“Great!! So does that mean we’re done here?”

“I suppose so.” 

“Wait! Before you guys leave, how about I show you around for a bit, huh? There’s many cool things around here, if you haven’t already seen while on your way here. Have they shown my buffet yet? There’s plenty of amazing food!” Eunseo offered like ten things at a time, but the list continued on. “Oh! I should definitely show you guys the garden. Hopefully my tulips have grown already.”

  


She had also insisted they stayed for tea. Hyunjin held the folder of documents firmly in her lap while Eunseo poured her another cup. Heejin hadn’t touched hers, still paranoid from her last experience with tea. The CEO was busy rambling about many other things to the two confused detectives, who were feeling a bit awkward. They weren’t sure if they should say anything, but as Eunseo babbled mindlessly about random things and occasionally checked her phone, both of them took this time to look over their notes to make sure they have everything to report back to Haseul. Both also messaged Vivi and Sooyoung about this, before putting their phones away when Eunseo began talking to them again. Luckily, a visitor abruptly entered her office and casually came strolling in, looking dismayed.

  


“Eunseo, you’re needed in the meeting room.” Everyone turned to look at the newcomer, only to be surprised seeing one of the current most popular idols. 

“Oh, hey Chowon! Coming to visit again?”

“Yeah, I’ll meet with you later when you’re done. Something about the toy manufacturing branch? It seems pretty urgent.”

“Ah, probably some minor business mishap again. I’m sorry to end our time so abruptly but I must see to this matter. It was nice meeting you two!” Eunseo quickly went away, leaving just the detectives and Chowon. 

“We should probably head out as well and meet up with Haseul.” Hyunjin suggested to Heejin, who agreed with a nod. But just as they were leaving, the rookie idol quickly stopped them.

“Wait! Sorry, I don’t mean to waste your time, but…there’s something really important I want to discuss with you.”

“How important must it be?” The older detective questioned, only to feel more concerned when Chowon looked around the room cautiously, her eyes trained on the office’s entrance for a few seconds before averting back to them. 

“It’s about my company. I, um…I suspect that they might be involved with really shady stuff. But—I-I’m not sure.” The detectives shared a look. 

“What do you know?” Heejin asked, matching her hushed voice to Chowon’s. 

“I think the company managing me is…tied to something called Limbo.”

  


* * *

  


  


During a vibrant morning, a bakery store was filled with people desiring delicious pastry for breakfast as various employees tried to carry out orders quickly and efficiently. It was oddly busier than usual, but that thankfully meant more more earnings so the bakers weren’t really complaining. The store’s manager helped out as much as she could while pasting around and giving papers bags to their customers. After a while, things sort of calmed down so now, they were temporarily on a few minutes break. While the manager was busy setting up equipment and continued baking, a ring sounded by the door, which indicated another customer had entered. Rushing to the counter, she was surprised. 

  


“Hey~! There’s my regular girl. How are you doing, Jinsollie?” The blonde woman chuckled at her nickname. 

“Doing just fine. Busy morning, huh?” She gazed around the store, seeing it filled with people socializing, some on their laptops and phones going through the internet.

“Oh yeah. Lots of people came in today. Should probably check my calendar next time and see if there’s any holidays coming up.”

“What can I say? You make the best pastries around here and many seem to love your food.”

“Ah, don’t flatter me too much. I got other people to help me flourish this business anyways.”

“_ Your _business.” Jinsol slapped a few bills on the counter while smirking. “I’ll have the usual, if you don’t mind.”

“Comin’ right up!” 

  


The manager heartily stated before disappearing to the back again. Chuckling one more time, Jinsol found an empty table for herself and patiently waited for her order to arrive. She decided to go through her phone to message some friends about errands they had to run soon, all while being busy with certain things. As those seem to be going well, Jinsol frowned since she had yet to think of ways to…not get caught. At all costs, their priority was staying as stealthy as possible. If Jinsol’s occupation was made public, there was no way she’d be able to escape from that. Therefore, the blonde messaged a close colleague, thoroughly making sure any flaw wouldn’t be present. However, they weren’t settled yet. Or at least not for long. While still on her phone, the door’s bell rang once more as a particular brunette strolled in. Jinsol didn’t bother to pay any attention as she took her order from one of the bakers, who wrote everything down. The list grew quite long after a few minutes. 

  


“Sorry! My friends are really hungry this morning.”

“U-uh…no problem, we’ll try to be quick. Can I get your name?”

“Ha Sooyoung.” As the baker nodded and wrote it down, Jinsol’s ear immediately perked and her eyes subtly drifted to the brunette’s back. 

  


_ ……Ha Sooyoung? _

  


She knew very well where that name belonged to, so no way in hell was this opportunity going to be wasted. Jinsol waited for the perfect time as Sooyoung conveniently chose a seat right behind her, also idly on her phone texting the rest of the girls from the station to ask why in god’s sake they wanted so much food for breakfast, not forgetting to rant to them about how embarrassing it was having to explain herself. Yeojin sent an eyeroll emoji, making an excuse that it probably wasn’t as bad as she was making it sound, followed with a teasing text: ‘ur so dramatic’. Sooyoung huffed as the rest went on about how amazing the pastries, donuts, muffins, cakes, etc. were and that she should be glad for being able to even step foot inside it. So much for telling her to stop being dramatic. After a while, Jinsol’s order was finished, so she walked over to the counter while secretly side-eyeing Sooyoung’s phone. There wasn’t much to see, however, although that was going to change soon as Jinsol got up to exit the bakery. 

Half an hour passed when the detective’s order was finally done. She sighed in relief before getting up to grab a humongous bag of food, which was insanely heavy to carry. Sooyoung groaned while hauling it out, her arm feeling like it was about to fall off any minute if she didn’t quickly place it in the backseat soon. But before she could even get closer to her car, she suddenly bumped into Jinsol, who was on her phone. Sooyoung stumbled back as the bag plopped on the ground along with the blonde. If Jinsol was honest, falling was not her initial plan, but it got Sooyoung’s attention anyways. 

  


“Oh my god!! I’m _ so _ sorry!” She cursed at herself for not noticing her sooner and being distracted with food. The officer quickly helped Jinsol onto her feet, profusely apologizing. 

She brushed some dirt off of her before chuckling. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it, I should’ve watched where I was going.” Jinsol then picked up her phone, which seemed to have turned off.

“A-are you sure? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m okay, really. What about you?” 

  


When she turned to look at the older brunette, she froze. Both of them froze. Jinsol’s eyes locked onto Sooyoung’s as, too awestruck by her beauty to say anything. They merely stood there lost in each other’s gaze and the detective could feel her cheeks getting warmer the longer she stared at Jinsol, but she was so pretty. Sooyoung irrationally thought about giving her whole bag of pastries to her, only to quickly decide against it. Not even a minute in and she was already so whipped, but Jinsol was no different. And to top it all off, Sooyoung was being painfully obvious with how she was subtly checking Jinsol out, which almost made the blonde snicker. She was the first to break away from the enchanting gaze and cleared her throat. 

  


“Let me help you with your stuff, it seems like you could use a hand.”

“Oh, no no, it’s totally fine, I can just take care of this myself. You seem to be in a hurry, so I don’t want to hold you back.”

Jinsol unconsciously giggled at how cute Sooyoung was. She almost widened her eyes at how unintentional that was, but when she saw how the brunette blushed even more, her smile grew wider. “Maybe I’ll see you around someday…?” Jinsol made a gesture, which the detective quickly caught on. 

“Sooyoung! Ha Sooyoung.” She tried her best to not sound so eager, but obviously failed. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Sooyoung. I’m Jung Jinsol. Your name sounds kind of familiar.”

“Ah, You might’ve heard of me before on the news? I work with the prodigious investigators Jeon Heejin and Kim Hyunjin.” Sooyoung confidently bragged as she nearly chuckled at her dorkiness.

“Ohhh, that's where I know you from. You’re pretty good at your profession.” 

“Yeah. Usually I just stay in the station and research things. Though it does get boring around. I feel like I could use some distractions.” Emphasis on the last part, causing Jinsol to smirk. 

“So I’m guessing you want me to give you my number?”

“Brave, aren’t you?” 

“Makes the two of us, Ha Sooyoung. And it’d be my pleasure to do so.”

“I don’t ask other girls that question quite often. You must be pretty special.” 

“Let’s see if I can say the same for you.” Jinsol slipped a note inside the brunette’s jacket pocket so fast that she barely registered it. But maybe it’s because Sooyoung was too enchanted by her beauty. “See you later.”

  


Before anything else could be said, Jinsol had already walked away since she couldn’t be stuck in the conversation for too long. The brunette almost stopped her because she wanted to get to know Jinsol more, but knew it would make her seem like a weird person, thus, she opted not to. Taking a deep breath, Sooyoung looked in her direction one more time before yanking the large bag off the cement ground, carefully holding it tight till she got to her car. After setting it in the back seat, Sooyoung ignited the engines and peeled away from the bakery’s parking lot, Jinsol remaining in her mind. Meanwhile, the blonde woman herself walked further and further away, then turned a corner into an alleyway to pull out her phone. Turning it on, there was still a call going on. She pressed it against her ear to the person speaking.

  


_ “So. Jung Jinsoul. What exactly is your plan now?” _

“Just a little something now that I’ve had the chance to meet her. You heard her name, didn’t you?”

_ “Ha Sooyoung…a co-captain of Station #1. Her ID picture seems charming.” _

Jinsol chuckled and smirked. “Don’t worry, boss. Fate is on our side.” 

_ “You better know what you’re doing. I expect no failures.” _

“So do I. Ha Sooyoung is right where I want her.” 

_ “Good.” _

  


After the call ended, she took a deep breath and leaned against the wall. Jinsol was confused with herself, as she’d never felt so entranced by someone before, let alone someone from BlockBerry’s Police Force. She quickly shook her head to Sooyoung’s beautiful, alluring eyes, ones that were certainly her type.

  


  


* * *

  


  


Boisterous screaming and cheerful yelling sounded throughout a house full of kids pillow fighting. With the fortress created in the living room, it was the day of sleepover and many friends had been invited, quickly flooding into the house early morning. On the wall just above the couch was a gigantic whiteboard decorated with numerous writings, names, and scribbles. But, written in enormous letters, Yeojin’s name was spelled out to make it clear to everyone that the board belonged to her. Bada, Jiheon and Doa were in the middle of the living room, going all out as they struck each other with pillows, Yeojin loudly cheering them on and hopping on the couch, Yuna passed out asleep on the kitchen table, and finally, Chaerin and Lena off in a corner wrestling each other to the death. Yuqi stood just outside the living room, utterly speechless at what she was currently seeing. Her mouth was agape, eyes wide and body completely frozen in shock. She merely left for 10 minutes.

  


“What the hell…? You gotta be kidding me.” The technician had just arrived back from their station after grabbing some food that Sooyoung bought. The last thing Yuqi ever expected were the kids in an all out pillow fight war, or whatever this was. In the midst of it, Yeojin was the first to notice her. 

“Hey, Yuqi-unnie’s back!” Almost immediately, everyone, even Yuna, looked up and happily greeted her simultaneously. 

“H-hi…why are you guys…?” She was still speechless even after they stopped. 

“Buying some time while you were away!” Doa answered her question with an innocent smile. 

“Yeah, but—of all the things you could’ve done, you know, something not so reckless.” 

“What’s the fun in that?” Yeojin countered with another inquiry. “Did you bring the bakery food yet, unnie?” 

“Oh uh, yeah, let’s eat in the kitchen.”

  


The kids, thankfully, did as told and piled inside while Yuna hastily hopped, grabbing her pillow with her. As they ate, all of them, except Yuqi, stirred up various conversations about the most random things like the new PS5 coming out, Doa not so subtly hinting that they can steal it, Yeojin bringing up some places they should go visit, and many more. The kids talked amongst themselves as Yuqi merely listened to them. Being their babysitter for nearly a week made her truly feel like a role model in charge of teaching them the values of growing up mature. She smiled to herself when thinking about the first chaotic day where the kids had dried up her credit card and she had to pay back a few thousand at the bank. Ok, maybe that wasn’t really a fond memory, but Yuqi really did enjoy locking Yeojin in her room for a five hour timeout, as well as forcing her and the other kids to do charity work before they could play the games they’d bought with her money. Their conversations continued on for a while until Jiheon brought up something that she’d been wanting to discuss.

  


“Hey, guys.” Everyone directed their attention towards her, looking curiously. “Do you think we can visit Yujin in the hospital soon?” As the kids murmured amongst themselves, Yuqi was suddenly feeling anxious since she knew about the lab and that Yujin wasn’t actually in a hospital. 

“Omg, we can totally make some time! Spring break is still for another few days.” Lena agreed, followed by Doa. 

“But wait, would they allow us to visit her? Plus, we’re all minors and she hasn’t woken up yet.”

They all instantly deflated, knowing she was right. Yeojin pouted, placing her chin in the palm of her hand. “I miss her so much….”

“I can ask Dr.Kim for you guys, but it might take a while since she’s always busy.” Yuqi hesitated for another moment before continuing with a mutter. “And because I’m scared of her.”

The kids erupted in laughter, pointing their fingers at the poor tech while teasing her. “Unnie! You’re always scared of everyone.”

“Am not!” She almost whined like a little baby, until Jiheon decided to step in and help her out of her misery, despite giggling as well. 

“You did kick that amusement park employee the other day and ran into the haunted house without hesitation.” 

“Oh yeah! I wish I could’ve gotten in on film, unnie. You were so badass!” Doa complimented before Yeojin spoke up again. 

“I’m pretty sure the doctor would call Haseul unnie if Yujin does wake up eventually, so we don’t have to stress about visiting her till then.” 

  


All of them nodded understandingly and were quite relieved to know that their friend could rest more without being disturbed by them. After a while, they finally finished breakfast as Doa and Jiheon helped Yuqi clean dishes. The others piled in Yeojin’s living room to watch some Netflix movies and shows, though even that didn’t seem to satisfy their boredom. What they really wanted to do was go to the mall again, but Yuqi was definitely going to refuse after the last time they went. Entering the living room again, she didn’t see the kids exchanging glances at each other after whispering about planning to go to the mall by somehow convincing her to give them a second chance. Doa and Jiheon immediately caught on to this, having a certain idea of what Yeojin and the rest were planning, but decided to stay silent. Most of them were on their phones seemingly minding their own business, though really, they were figuring out a way to make Yuqi drive them to the mall. Doa took one peek inside to see what was going on, only to leave immediately and pretend she didn’t see their evil plans. The babysitter herself, on the other hand, remained oblivious to this and Jiheon was afraid to say anything.

  


  


With that commencing, Lena quickly started up a conversation with Yuqi while Yuna snuck away as quietly as possible to find the car keys. Yeojin had informed her that they were last seen in the kitchen. Thankfully, Yuna saw them hanging just by the door to the garage, snatching it away. She cautiously reappeared in the living room, poking her head in to see Yuqi still distracted. Yuna held up the keys to display them for her friends to see, while Doah and Jiheon merely shook their heads. Honestly, what could they do at this point? Yeojin, Chaerin and Bada lightly fist pumped and cheered in hushed voices. This plan felt almost _ too _ easy. And well, it was. Everyone, except Yuqi, Doah and Jiheon stood to walk towards the front door.

  


“Unnie, can you take us to the mall?” Yeojin almost demanded as the older girl looked at her like she had two heads.

“You think I’d say yes after you all completely used up my credit card??”

That was when the gremlin jiggled the car keys in her hand, smirking. “Yes, I do.”

But what was really unexpected was how unfazed Yuqi remained. And to their horror, she smiled right back at them. “You mean these?” Yuqi held up another pair of keys that looked exactly like the one Yeojin was holding. Everyone standing behind the younger girl stared in utter shock.

“W-what the—?! Don’t tell me that’s—”

“Yep. I knew you’d pull another stunt like this, so there was no way I’d trust you kids with Haseul unnie’s car keys. So these are the real ones while you have the counterfeit that I personally replicated with a slightly different touch, thus, making them useless.” 

“But—how did you know we planned this??” Chaerin practically exclaimed. That was when both Doah and Jiheon stood right beside Yuqi, which instantly sent them a clear message.

“You traitors!!” Yeojin pointed at her friends accusingly while menacingly glaring at them as Doah rolled her eyes. 

“We did this to save your butts. Consider it a favor.” Bada was utterly confused by all of this and stared between the two groups. 

“We _ promise _we brought our own money this time! Please, Yuqi unnie?” Yuna showed her puppy eyes. 

  
  


_ No. Yuqi, don’t give in. _

  
  


Yeojin, the leader of their little pack, quickly caught onto this before rushing towards Yuqi and sitting down on her knees. “Please, unnie~?? I promise we’ve learned our lesson! Please~~~?” Pretty soon, the rest, except Bada, Jiheon and Doah joined in to pester the tech. 

Yuna noticed Bada was hesitant, so she quickly pulled the older girl down on her knees, raising an eyebrow as if expecting something. Thinking a bit deeper, she easily got the message and smirked. “Unnie, please? I know I’m new, but I rarely ever had fun in my old town before I transferred….” 

This combined with all of their pestering finally broke her. “Ok, ok! Fine! But I’m leaving my credit card at home!”

  


Yuqi gave in, which earned cheering from the kids when they stood to give her hugs and smooches. Doah and Jiheon quickly backed away as she was being mobbed, shaking their heads since they weren’t too surprised. Afterwards, most of the kids grabbed their wallets and piled into Haseul’s van while the two stayed behind. Yuqi decided to trust Jiheon with her precious credit card before they headed off to the mall at last.

  


* * *

  


  


Great relief washed through them when they crossed through the mall's large doors. The kids' eyes gleamed at numerous sights of stores and restaurants, fancy monuments, even seeing other people was relieving. Yuqi was practically dragged by them to each store they wanted to visit and kept a close eye on them as much as she could. Easier said than done, she also told the kids to not try and steal things. Of course, they disobeyed anyway, but didn’t get far when Yuqi caught them after only thirty seconds. The kids seemed to have forgotten that she was a detective. Thus, as punishment, Yuqi was going to pick out their lunch at the food court later and make them eat vegetables only. For now, they were currently checking out a clothes shop that Lena recommended. The kids roamed around in small separate groups, idly examining anything that caught their eyes. Yuna and Bada were at the jeans’ section laughing amongst themselves while Lena and Chaerin were looking at sweaters. And surprisingly enough, they weren’t arguing with each other.

  


“What do you think about this yellow jacket with the red plaid overalls?” Chaerin held them up for Lena to see and judge, to which she nodded approvingly. 

“Hm, looks cute on you.”

“Oh? I’m cute to you?” She smirked while the other girl rolled her eyes. 

“Nah, I think you’re ugly.” Lena laughed when Chaerin pouted instantly after the comment. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But yes, I think you’ll look cute.”

“Alright.” Smiling once again, she agreed to purchase the outfit and promised to wear it to school once their break was done. “You think we should buy anything for Yeojin? And maybe the other girls?” 

“If I had more money to spare, I would. Let’s see what Yeojin would like.”

  


They both agreed with that and continued looking at more clothes. Meanwhile, the girl herself was feeling bored and somewhat left out as she merely picked at the cotton fabric of some sweatpants. Yuqi was busy with Yuna and Bada getting her to try on some clothes and make her more fashionable for her detective work. Yeojin looked at the far corner to see Lena and Chaerin giggling with each other, which was rather surprising because they were always bickering. She wondered what they were talking about before noticing something across the clothes store and her eyes immediately gleamed. Yeojin quickly rushed up to Yuqi after the tech geek finally escaped Yuna and Bada, startling her.

  


“Unnie, unnie, unnie! Can I go to the candy store over there, please, please??” She continuously hopped while pointing. 

“Whoa! Oh my goodness, you scared me.” Yuqi looked in the same direction. Wait a minute. “That place has chocolate, right?”

“Duh. It says so on their sign.” Yeojin deadpanned. 

  


_ Sooyoung unnie had told me not to give her any chocolate… _

  


“Uh…maybe there’s a different candy store around here?” The tech looked around to see if there were any as Yeojin rolled her eyes. 

“Look. I know Sooyoung said that I shouldn’t have chocolate and stuff, but that was only because I pulled a prank on her. And It was hilarious, by the way.”

“Do I want to know…?”

“I just put some on her chair to make it look like she shit her pants.” The school girl said with much pride and giggled at the memory. So that was why Sooyoung shrieked in the bathroom last month. “But trust me, I won’t pull the same thing on you, unnie.” Yeojin smiled innocently, though Yuqi wasn’t convinced and merely pushed it aside. 

“Let’s wait for the others to finish first, then we can—”

“Wait, actually. Can I go there by myself? I _ promise _ I won’t steal anything.”

“You said that back home and tried stealing a bike an hour ago.” She raised an eyebrow at Yeojin, but the younger girl was still insistent. 

“Pretty please~~~~?” After a brief moment of hesitation, Yuqi finally relented with a sigh. 

“Ok, ok. I’ll give you ten minutes to come back, alright?”

“Yay!! Thank you, unnie!”

  


Yeojin gave her a squeezing hug, before skipping away towards the candy store. It didn’t take long before she found herself in the gourmet candy shop, looking over the shelves in awe. She stood there gazing at the colorful display of sugar coated gummies, beautifully decorated cubed chocolates, bars, licorice, taffy and so much more that Yeojin couldn’t comprehend as she was practically drawn inside. The excited girl gazed at everything that caught her attention, i.e. the whole store. She happily toured around the store, disrupting other people by lightly pushing them out of the way so she could see the chocolate sculptures of furniture, nutcrackers, and animals. Below those displays were identical ones wrapped up for purchase. However, one box in particular, really caught her eye. It was a giant chocolate frog sculpture, the size of her torso. She stared in awe before carefully taking the box off the shelves and rushing towards the cashier. The girl quickly fished out her wallet and was ready to pay. Only the price was _ really _ high.

  


“Holy shit.” Yeojin whispered with eyes wide as she stared at 1,689$ on the monitor, before chuckling nervously. “Ah…I didn’t know it was going to be that much.” The price made her wallet seem like it was just dust inside. 

“Are you going to pay or not, kid?” The male cashier questioned in a lazy and impatient tone.

“U-uh…is there perhaps a sale today?”

“Sorry, there isn’t.” 

“So what’s the cheapest candy here?”

“Jolly beans.” Yeojin hated those. 

“How much is about ten chocolate pieces?” 

“70$”

  


_ SEVENTY?! _

  


Yeojin practically screamed internally as her cheeks grew as red as tomatoes and eyes widened once more. It seemed like there was absolutely no hope for her. “Erm…sorry, I’ll just—go then.” 

But then, in that moment, someone grabbed the young girl by the elbow, halting her from exiting. “Hold on, I’ll pay for you, hun.” Shocked, Yeojin immediately looked behind her to see a blonde woman with a simple black t-shirt tucked in her jeans, as well as some red converse shoes. She lightly chuckled at her surprised expression before pulling a large wad of bills. “Here. Keep the change.” The woman offered in a cool tone, and on top of that, was very pretty, which intrigued Yeojin even more.

“Wh—”

“This belongs to you now.” The blonde handed the plastic bag over to her before she could say anything. “Enjoy your sweets, child.” Yeojin got a pat on her head as the woman began paying for her own stuff. She couldn’t help but wait patiently outside for this mysterious, generous person to exit the store. And when she did, Yeojin quickly stopped her from walking away. 

“Hey! Thank you so much for paying my bag over there. How can I pay you back?” 

The woman chuckled at her enthusiasm, placing a hand on Yeojin’s shoulder. “It’s no big deal. You don’t have to pay me back at all.” 

“Oh come on! You’re too nice. Here, you have half of this.” But she was stopped before opening her box of the chocolate frog. 

“Hey, hey, it’s fine, really. You got them all for yourself, so just keep them. Besides, I’m already full here.” The woman held up dozens of other shopping bags, surprising Yeojin even more. 

“Holy crap! Is there a special event?” 

“Yeah, kinda complicated. An anniversary with my girlfriend.” 

Smirking, she immediately teased. “Oooooh, are you a sugar mommy or something?”

“Wh—?! What kind of question is that??”  


“Aye, it’s a good question since you easily paid nearly two grands worth of _ candy _ and a bunch of other stuff you got there.” 

“T-that doesn’t automatically make me a—where are your parents? Or guardian?” She quickly changed the topic to avoid this embarrassment. 

“Just right over there. My babysitter, actually. You look about her age, kind of. If you seem vaguely familiar…” Yeojin tilted her head slightly. “Have we met before?” 

“You tripped onto me at the fair.” She chuckled. 

“Ooooh! Sorry about that, I was too excited to see Han Chowon.”

“I see.” The woman raised an eyebrow as she looked toward the Yeojin pointed to before averting attention back to her. “Well, I gotta go now. Don’t wanna be late for this anniversary or my girlfriend’s going to throw a fit in about 20 minutes.”

“Wait! Can I please get your name first? We should totally hang out sometime! My friends will love you.”

“Uh…I don’t tell my name to strangers.”

“Alright, fine. My name is Jo Yeojin! Now you know who I am.”

“I didn’t ask—”

“What’s your name?” She inquired with utter curiosity. 

“Listen. It was nice knowing you, Yeojin. But I really have to go.”

“Aw come on, please~?” The young girl flashed her puppy eyes, causing the woman to freeze. 

“I-I—”

“With the red cherry on top, please~~~?” Yeojin clasped her hands together. This technique never seemed to fail whenever she wanted something, and luckily, it worked. 

“Fine, fine…I don’t give out my real name all willy-nilly, but just call me Kim Lip.”

“The hell? What kind of name is that?”

She was slightly offended. “Hey! It’s my professional name.” 

Yeojin immediately gasped, placing a hand over her mouth. “Are you a celebrity??” 

“No! Just—go with it, ok? For our sake.”

“Uh. Alright.” 

Kim Lip placed both of her hands Yeojin’s shoulder. “And listen to me carefully. Before I go, do not tell anyone we met. Am I clear?”

“Why? Are you some spy?”

“That’s none of your business. Just swear you’ll be silent.”

“Don’t worry! Your secrets are totally safe with me. But it’d be _ totally _ cool if you’re a spy! Are you?” Yeojin asked like wanting Kim Lip to say yes, which she answered hesitantly. 

“Yeah…sure.” 

“Awesome!!” 

“Alright, alright. Quiet down. I’m gonna head off. Get home safe, kid.” Kim Lip chuckled before picking up her bags and leaving. 

  


The whole time Yuqi was watching their conversation from a distance, curious to who Yeojin was talking to. She narrowed her eyes at the blonde, who oddly seemed familiar to her. Yuqi could’ve sworn she, and Yeojin, had seen her somewhere recently, but guessed the younger girl had forgotten. As Kim Lip walked away, Yuqi’s eyes trailed her until she disappeared from sight. The technician had an odd feeling for some reason, which brushed it off when Yeojin held onto her arm to greet her. Afterwards, they hung out in the mall for another hour at the food court, with Yuqi still following up with her punishment to have the kids eat only vegetables for the entirety of lunch, thus, convesgating Yeojin’s bag full of candy. Yuqi had questioned how she bought so many with the little amount of money she had. The younger girl kept it quite vague, confusing her to the point where she just dropped the subject and ordered their food. Yeojin’s friends asked her about it, but avoided answering them, reserving for another time. 

Meanwhile, Kim Lip was loading her trunk with the numerous shopping bags, eventually closing when she finished. Hopping into the driver’s seat, she was about to start the engine when her phone suddenly rang with a caller. Immediately recognizing them, Kim Lip picked it up. 

  


“Hey, what’s up?”

_ “I need your help with the plan. There’s still some flaws that need to be fixed.” _

“Wasn’t it under control yesterday?”

_ “Was. Then I figured it was too obvious because we’re showing our face.” _

“So?”

_ “‘So’?? They’re detectives, Jungeun! Look, just get your ass over here so we can finish this quickly already.” _

“The cameras are gonna be hijacked and we already have Lethe, Jinsol. Plus, we’re getting rid of them anyways, what’s the point?”

_ “That _ ** _is_ ** _ the point. Doesn’t it occur to you they’ll be extra careful now they’re most likely aware of us after the first failed assassination? They’ll probably do anything to stay alert.” _

“Huh…you’re right.” 

_ “Exactly, dumb ass. Now hurry up!” _

With that being said, the call immediately ended after that, leaving Jungeun as she rested her head against her seat. “Jesus christ….” She stayed for about ten seconds, then finally ignited the engines and peeled out of the parking lot, before entering the streets.

  


  



	32. More to learn

It'd been quite a long day already, though only seemed to stretch the more Hyunjin and Heejin stayed in Eunseo’s very luxurious office. But this new and sudden information about Limbo was much needed right now with the case they were investigating. Chowon had basically laid down most of the things she suspected about her company. From possibly laundering money to illegally bribing music charts to rig the ranking sales. And not only that, their management for her wasn’t exactly the best. Long excruciating hours of practicing just for a debut, which, yes, was highly successful, but she trained way more than necessary. And the CEO could care less. Heejin’s jaw clenched as Chowon disclosed more details about her situation. How could anyone be this cruel to an innocent young girl who was just trying to pursue her dreams? Hyunjin seemed to have felt the same as her fists were clenched at her side. The detectives made sure to document all of this down, though also feeling a bit off with Chowon’s descriptions about her company. There was definitely more that they didn’t quite know. When the young idol finished and looked around fearfully, Heejin put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Hey, it’s alright. Do you have anything else to add?” Heejin questioned in a welcoming tone so she wouldn’t feel hesitant. But despite that, the young idol continued glancing at the door. 

“U-uh…I do, but—”

“Hey.” Hyunjin held both of her hands to calm her down. She’d seen this kind of behavior before. “You’re going to be alright. You can talk to us about anything, so please don’t feel scared.” 

“Why don’t you try taking a deep breath and continue, hm?” Heejin asked her calmly, which Chowon tried her best. 

She somewhat shakily inhaled, then huffed out before quietly speaking further. “I actually took a video of the CEO speaking with these people. The audio is a bit muffled and it’s quality is crap because I was trying to hide as much as possible. This was taken about two years ago while I was still a trainee.”

The detectives shared uneasy glances again, then Hyunjin spoke up. “Let us have a look.”

“Wait. Actually, not here. Maybe when you’re somewhere more private.”

Heejin frowned. “Who’s here with you right now?”

“Uh…m-my manager…he’s right outside in the hall.”

“Did he do something to scare you?”

“He’s close friends with the CEO and I don’t know…I feel like he watches my every move. Like he’s very suspicious of me. I can barely go on my phone without him checking it every time. If he sees anything ‘weird,’ then I lose my social media privileges for a month.”

“What the hell?”

Hyunjin quickly spoke up once more. “Hold on, does he know you’re in here with us?” 

“No. I lied to him that I was just here to visit some friends.” 

“Alright. Just tell us everything you know for now, then maybe the next time we meet up, we’ll give you something that’ll keep us in contact.” 

“O-ok, uh…I have this feeling that my company is planning something. I really have no idea what it’s about, but I see the CEO leave the building quite frequently. He claims that he’s seeing some colleagues, which is like almost every single day. There’s rarely a time I see him in his office when I need to ask about some things.”

“Don’t worry. We suspect him and the company to be hiding something as well.” Heejin informed the young idol, which made her relieved before continuing their conversation. “If you’ve perhaps seen the people he’s met up with, can you describe their appearances for us?”

“I’m not sure, the last time was two years ago. There were several men in black suits, one blonde woman and brunette girl?” 

“‘Blonde woman’? Chowon-sshi, what did she look like?”

“Her eyes are cat-like, if that makes sense. Her features overall were sharp and intimidating.”

“Whoever this is, she seems to be everywhere….” Hyunjin muttered under her breath, but Heejin heard and nodded. 

“Some blonde woman has been mentioned to us several times in the past by a few acquaintances. What was she wearing?”

“Some very fluffy coat, high heels, a black leather vest and pants, as well as sunglasses, I think.” 

“I see…we’ll try our best and figure out who exactly this woman is. That name you mentioned, Limbo, they’re a mafia and we’re certain she runs it.” 

“M-mafia?? Oh my god, no way.” 

“Don’t worry, Chowon-sshi. We can meet tomorrow or soon if you would like to stay in contact with us and give us more details about your CEO. Be on the lookout for them, too, ok?” 

“I’ll try…uh, I guess I should go now.” 

“Alright. Stay safe and strong.” Heejin held her hand momentarily before hesitantly letting go, watching the young idol exit out the doors of Eunseo’s office. She couldn’t help but anxiously worry about her. 

Hyunjin placed her hand on the older detective’s shoulder. “Chowon’s going to be fine. She seemed determined to tell us about this, so the kid can handle herself.” 

“I hope so. Come on, we should tell Haseul and the others about this.”

“Yeah.”

That being said, the duo embark on yet another road towards their station, both of them mindlessly staring out in the window of the taxi they picked up. Heejin leaned against the headrest while Hyunjin went through her phone to message their captain. Other than that, there was certainly much to think about in this hellish week, especially after their more frequent encounters with Limbo. The mafia was already well aware of their presence, but stupidly enough, they both never expected to be nearly assassinated in public before. As much as Hyunjin wanted to push that incident in the back of her mind, it only came crawling back to haunt. She felt it was the universe’s cruel way of reminding her that the night at Diamond House shouldn’t be forgotten. Hyunjin might’ve honestly had it worse than Heejin since she was practically bottling up emotions more, rather than expressing utmost concerns about it. The younger detective shook her head, though still having a strange feeling…what if Limbo were to attempt another assassination? 

Before Hyunjin could think any further, the taxi finally arrived at their station and parked right outside the gates. She lightly punched Heejin’s shoulder to wake her up as they both hopped. Walking inside, they noticed their friends eating pastries Sooyoung had purchased earlier in the morning. Hyunjin eagerly entered to have some bites while Heejin trailed behind like a zombie. Everyone greeted the two immediately after seeing them, just in time as Sooyoung was telling the rest all about her encounter with Jinsol.

“So you guys just bumped into each other and all of the sudden it’s Cinderella?” Haseul chuckled as her friend continued with her story. 

“No, I just flirted a bit and we found each other hot, so she gave me her number.” She took a bite out of her strawberry jam filled donut. “And that was a terrible analogy, by the way.” 

“Oh, like you’re any better.” 

Vivi quickly butted in.  _ “Anywho. _ She didn’t say anything else to you?”

“I think enough was said.” Sooyoung held up her phone for everyone to see. “See? We’re meeting again at the bakery soon.” 

Jiwoo giggled with Chaewon, Yuqi and Shuhua. “You got quite a catch! She must be really pretty.”

Vivi laughed along as well. “Don’t get too whipped for her, Sooyoungie!”

The duo detectives had missed out on most of their friends’ conversations, thus remained confused until Hyunjin finally spoke up. “What the heck are we talking about?”

“I have a new date.” She smirked at them as they both raised their eyebrows. 

Heejin chuckled, knowing how long Sooyoung had been wanting to be in a relationship. “That’s great! Maybe you can go on a double date Haseul and Saerom unnie one day.” 

“As if I’d say yes to that.” The captain jokingly grimaced, earning an eye roll from Sooyoung. 

“By the way, unnie. Can we talk to you for a bit?” 

“Sure.” Haseul hopped down from her desk she’d been sitting on and walked to the back. “What’s up?”

“We met up Cosmic Corps’ CEO, Kim Eunseo, this morning to ask about Yena’s parents.

“Oh, right. What’d she say?”

“She said they were frantic about meeting a close friend of theirs on some harbor. That’s all.” Heejin filled in as Haseul thought deeply. 

“Harbor…? There has to be a way we can trace them down and find where that’s located.” 

“They honestly could’ve set course to anywhere, so how can we find a way?” 

“Yeah, they could be on a secluded island for all we know. Maybe even in the middle of the ocean.”

“But why the hell would anyone do that? And how can they even get food and water to survive?” 

Heejin briefly looked at her partner and shrugged. “They could be fishing for all we know.” 

“Wait.” The captain suddenly paused. “Our station has connections to various countries that the headquarters are working with. Maybe if we can get in touch with a few places, we’ll likely be able to find them.” 

Hyunjin stopped her for a moment. “Hold on a sec, just how many places are you talking about?”

“About ten.”

“Ten??” Heejin’s eyes widened. “Where are we going to find the amount of help that will find them quicker than the scarce time we have for Yena’s trial? Because we obviously can’t do this by ourselves.”

“Hey, hey, relax, alright? It’s not as bad as you think it sounds.” Haseul firmly ordered, then placed her hands on both of the detective’s shoulders to calm them down. “Like I said, we have a lot of connections. So, there’s already more than enough help. The headquarters know about this trial, so they’re willing to assist in searching for her parents. They called this morning to apologize about the mixed files that sent you two to Japan.” 

“Oh. Well apology accepted! I had a fun time anyway.” Heejin smiled while Hyunjin rolled her eyes. 

“I guess that’s good they’re actually helping us now. But there’s also something else we need to tell you.” 

Haseul immediately noticed the tension, making her nervous. “What is it?” 

“You know Han Chowon, right? Her song is always playing on our radio.” No thanks to Yeojin. 

“Yeah, she’s very popular right now. Why?”

“Well….” Heejin trailed off momentarily. “Long story, she suspected that her company might be working with Limbo for something. They’re also mistreating her with unnecessary long hours of practice and improperly managing her.” Haseul was utterly shocked by this sudden news.

“What??” 

“The part about Limbo is just a speculation so far, but she said she witnessed her CEO meeting up with suspicious people every day. I think we should look into that more.” Hyunjin suggested when Jiwoo suddenly stood up from her seat.

“Did you say Chowon?” Everyone’s attention suddenly averted to her. 

“Yes?” Hyunjin replied to her question. 

“Is she in trouble? What’s wrong?” She walked closer to her friends. 

“Uh, she’s fine, Jiwoo. Why are you so worried all of the sudden?” Heejin inquired back, confused about the older girl’s abrupt change in mood. 

“Chowon’s been my friend since we were trainees.” At that moment, the whole station went through a frenzy. 

“A trainee?” Hyunjin asked. 

“Yeah. That was before I went to the academy because I was still pursuing a music career at that time.” 

“Jesus, first you’re friends with one of the richest CEOs in the world and now a celebrity??” Haseul questioned with utmost bewilderment. 

“What did Chowon say?” 

“She just thinks her company is affiliated with Limbo for some reason.”

Jiwoo frowned deeply at this. “Chowonnie…are we investigating this? If so, can I help, please?”

“Yeah of course, but let’s not get too frantic, alright?” Haseul noticed how visibly distraught the girl was and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We’ll need to check in with the headquarters only because it’s a speculation for the time being. So right now, we can only do as much as check in on Chowon and see if she suspects anything else.” 

“Jeon and I already offered to meet her again soon when we’re all free.” 

Then, Jiwoo stepped in. “I have her phone number. I’ll message Chowon later.” 

“But we need to be careful about her manager. He keeps a close watch on it at all times.” Heejin was quick to inform as Jiwoo deflated. 

“Ah…that’s right. They always do that in the music industry, especially stricter when you’re a rookie.” 

“Whatever the case is, we’re going to thoroughly investigate everything.” Their captain said with determination and encouragement, which they all nodded to. 

“And when there’s an investigation about Chowonnie’s company, please  _ please _ let me know.” Jiwoo placed both her hands on Haseul’s shoulder to further emphasize.

“Alright, alright. You can let go.” She slightly chuckled. 

“Does that mean we can go home now?” Hyunjin asked while not-so-sneakily taking a bag full of donuts with her. 

“Sure. It’s been a long day for you guys. Let’s rest up and get ready for investigating tomorrow.”

The two detectives exited the station upon Haseul’s order, calling yet another taxi. Just like any other ride, a lot was on their mind. Moreover, they had to find a way to meet up with Chowon without having to deal with her manager and worry about finding Yena’s parents, to top it all off. They knew there was going to be a really busy week for them, but the duo were determined to get as much work done as possible. And maybe even get closer to finding Hyejoo. So many major events happened within a span of several months that they’d nearly forgotten what the heck they were even doing in the first place. Thankfully, they had each other and their friends to remind themselves. Though before leaving, Hyunjin handed Chaewon and Shuhua the Chois’ boat information so they could find its hull identification number. Afterwards, the duo were finally on their way home.

Hyunjin dozed off on her phone once again, looking through various news articles for anything new or out of the ordinary, while Heejin was struggling to keep her eyes open. Soon, they arrived home, immediately heading upstairs in their individual rooms. The older detective stayed secluded in her room for the remainder of the day while Hyunjin cooked up some meals in the kitchen for dinner. She’d knocked on Heejin’s door to offer food, but the other declined, opting to stay in her room. Needless to say, they spent the rest of the day by themselves until night time hit. The younger detective was getting ready for bed when she heard knocking on her door. Opening it, she was surprised to see Heejin standing there with her large bunny plush.

“What?” 

“C-can I sleep with you for the night again?” 

Hyunjin raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“I’m frightened….

Sighing, she placed a hand on her hip. “Come on, Jeon. Wasn’t the kitchen scary enough for you? We  _ really  _ need to get in touch with Mia again.”

“Shut up. It’s embarrassing as it is already.” 

Hyunjin rolled her eyes before standing aside to let Heejin in. “Hurry up before I change my mind.”

The older detective was notably relieved by this and did as told, taking her side of the bed farthest from her partner. Hyunjin followed soon after, making herself comfortable and draping the yellow blanket over before turning off the light. Immediately, everything was quite dark, aside from the moon’s illumination. Heejin, despite being tired, remained awake while Hyunijn had already closed her eyes half an hour ago. She clutched her bunny tightly as the night at Diamond House replayed over and over again. To Heejin, it was a living nightmare. But she was completely aware that she couldn’t let this fear continue and jeopardize her work. As much as she hated to admit it, Heejin was becoming a coward. Pushing the thoughts away, the detective took a deep breath before closing her eyes at last. She was quite grateful for Hyunjin by her side.

* * *

Morning arrived sooner than expected. And, once again, Heejin was cuddled up with Hyunjin, who groaned in irritation upon waking up. Remaining unsurprised, she pushed her snoring partner off to enter the bathroom. Afterwards, Hyunjin walked downstairs to cook some homemade pancakes, the sweet aroma of batter and bread filling the whole house. Minutes passed and soon Heejin was waddling into their living room after Hyunjin called her name, plopping down on the couch. As a Netflix show played in the background, Hyunjin received a message from Haseul for her and the older detective to stop by the station. Sighing, she finished up her gourmet pancakes with honey before setting two dishes down on the coffee table.

“Wow Kim, your cooking never disappoints.” Hyunjin hummed in return. 

“We have to go back to the station in a bit, by the way.” 

“Alright.” Heejin nodded and pried at her pancakes with her fork, then briefly looked to the side. “Hey…how come you have three pancakes and I get one??”

“Because I made them for myself?” Hyunjin deadpanned. 

“But—ugh, nevermind.” Soon after they started getting ready by dressing in their usual, professional attire before heading out of the house and locking the door. Hyunjin messaged Haseul that they were on their way to the station when Heejin suddenly tapped her shoulder.

“Kim! Look!” 

“Holy shit! It’s—”

Upon seeing their beloved, artificial intelligent car again, Heejin repeatedly tapped Hyunjin’s shoulder to get her attention. “Kim! We can totally show this off to the others. They’re gonna go insane when they see Eclipse!”

“And probably ask way too many questions for my liking.”

Shortly thereafter, the two boarded and were greeted with a welcome back message as Hyunjin took them to the station. On their trip, Heejin continuously asked Eclipse many questions about her mechanisms and the things she could do. But instead of verbally telling the detective, a manual conveniently printed out of the compartment, which was, of course, very surprising and unexpected. As Heejin skimmed through the seemingly small booklet, her eyes widened at the paragraphs detailing just how technologically advanced Eclipse was. She read them aloud for Hyunjin to hear.

“Whoa! You can change the seats to be a massage chair??” 

“Holy crap! Jeon, try that.”

“Uh, let’s see…it says the button is located….” She looked around, but didn’t see anything to press. “Eclipse, where’s the massage chair thingy?” 

_ **Activating: Reclining Passenger Seat ** _

  
  


“Wait, wh—AH!”

“Whoa!” Before either of the detectives could react, Heejin’s seat suddenly leaned backwards, startling them both. Then, Eclipse offered her whether she wanted a massage, watch some movies on the expandable visor, etc. Needless to say, the duo were speechless. 

“Oh my god, if Eclipse gets any cooler than this, I might just pass out.”

“She might have way more stuff after that, to be honest. Read the manual some more.” 

“Just a minute…I’m getting my much needed massage.” She only now realized Heejin had selected her option and was now receiving it on her back and legs. “Ah…this is nice….” 

Hyunjin gave her a weird look, already feeling awkward. “You, know I’m still here, right?” 

“Shut up and let me enjoy this moment.”

“Ugh….”

She merely rolled her eyes and continued on their road towards the station, which luckily didn’t take long as they reached the parking lot. When the duo entered their station, it was bustling as ever. The first thing they saw was Haseul and Vivi looking at a map, Sooyoung on the phone smiling like a dork (everyone knew what she was up to), Jiwoo talking with Shuhua, and Chaewon typing away on her computer. Aside from most of the professional work going around, there were Yuqi and Yeojin bantering about some games and trying to pick which one they should play. Overall, it was a somewhat peaceful mess. Hyunjin went over to her desk while Heejin began talking with Haseul. They both resumed the same discussion from yesterday. Luckily, the headquarters informed them that if they could find the harbor Yena’s parents may be, they’ll allow the detectives access there and launch an investigation. Heejin sighed in relief.

“That’s pretty much what they said when I got the call.” 

“Great! So now we just wait for Chaewon to get this place.” Right after she stated that, the blonde girl was standing behind her, smiling amusedly. 

“Already ahead of you, Heejinnie. I sent the address to you.” 

“Wow, that was quick. Thanks, Wonnie!” They shared a quick hug as Heejin excitedly skipped towards Hyunjin, who looked stoic, but only because she was tired. “We got the location!” She held her phone close to her partner’s face, which made the younger detective flinch. 

“Ow. Why do you always set the brightness so high?” Hyunjin frowned while rubbing her eye. 

“Sorry, just at ease now that we found the Chois’ boat.” 

“Wait. Does that mean we’re gonna need to rent one so we can get there?” 

“Ah…you’re right. That means we have to pay more money for a taxi to arrive at the dock and rent it.” 

“Actually, before we go, you still have to call someone.” Heejin groaned even more while the younger detective rolled her eyes. “Come on, just do it already.” 

“Do we have to? I mean, wouldn’t we be bothering her?” 

“I’m not leaving until she comes with us. And you, especially, need her help.”

“God ok, I’ll give her a call.”

When Heejin finished convincing Mia to join the duo once again on another mission, which was meant with lots of hesitation, they were finally on the road to her apartment building. The older detective continued looking at Eclipse’s manual as Hyunjin carefully maneuvered through the streets of Seoul. Luckily, there was less traffic than usual, so they could relax for another thirty minutes. Heejin grew more fascinated about Eclipse’s functions as she read on about the glove compartment. She wondered that if it could print things, then there might be other things it could do. Afterwards, without thinking much, Heejin asked for a strawberry smoothie, causing Hyunjin to give her a weird look. And as requested, the glove compartment immediately created the beverage right before her. Inside, there was a small blender quickly being filled with strawberry, ice, and milk before getting mixed all together. Once that finished, a glass cup of it suddenly appeared beside Heejin on the cup holder. She was too shocked to even process what just happened while holding it and staring in awe.

When they finally stopped at a red light, Hyunijn looked to the side and saw her partner happily drinking away. “…I don’t know what to say.” 

“Honestly, now we don’t have to spend money on drinks anymore!”

Heejin said before requesting more from the compartment and experimented to see if Eclipse could make other foods and beverages. After a while, she tried to offer Hyunjin some french fries that the glove compartment made with an actual fryer. The younger detective didn’t like being fed by someone else to begin with, until some melon pans were quickly baked and offered. Then that was followed with much more food cooked up and surprisingly, it didn’t burn out for the next twenty minutes of constantly boiling, barbequing, frying, and the list goes on. Soon, the detectives were in front of Mia’s apartment building, patiently waiting for her to come through the front doors.

“Don’t you think we should clean all of this mess up before she gets here, Jeon?” Hyunjin looked around their car and grimaced. 

“I wanna show her what Eclipse does with the trash.” 

“But, still….”

“Don’t worry, she did it in an instant when we were in Japan.”

“Well—”

“Hey guys.” They didn’t even realize Mia was standing right outside their car, but somehow didn’t see all of the mess yet. “It’s been a while.” She chuckled at their surprised faces when they whirled around after hearing her voice. 

“Hi, Mia! Hop in.” Upon sitting at the backseat, the psychologist was utterly astonished by the numerous amounts of empty foam and glass dishware laying around. “Uh…did you guys take a trip to a buffet before you got here?” 

“Believe me when I say this, but I’m not responsible for the mess.” Hyunjin quickly defended herself, leaving Heejin rather offended by this. 

“Yeah sure, like you didn’t request ten different types of melon pans.” Mia slumped in her seat, already knowing where this was going.

“I am not gonna sit here and watch you two bicker. Again.” 

“Right, sorry. By the way, Mia. You’re here just in time for this.”

She raised an eyebrow. “For what?” But Heejin only smiled back. 

“Eclipse, please clean all of this mess.”

_ **Activating: Full Interior Cleansing** _

And the show went on from there. Mia yelped when the trash was suddenly vacuumed into a large plastic bag before being tossed near some metal bins. But that wasn’t it. Eclipse made sure the car’s interior was completely freshened by blasting a gust of cherry blossom scent, causing all of three of them to momentarily take cover until it stopped. Mia cautiously sat up, eyes widened as she frowned at the center screen where Eclipse announced that the whole car was completely clean now. Mia had never seen something so technologically advanced before and she just nearly passed out from this experience alone.

“What…the heck just happened…?” 

“Pretty much what it seemed like. Oh Eclipse, meet my best friend, Han Eunji, but she goes by Mia."

_ **Welcome aboard the Lexus UX 2019, Han Mia.** _

“I-i-is it—talking to me??” 

“Yes. And ‘it’ is a she.” Hyunjin informed her before igniting the engine. “Now, we’re on our way to the dock.” Heejin nodded along before handing Mia the manual. 

“Here! Read these, it tells us basically all about Eclipse.” Mia perked up, quite curious while scanning through. 

“And where did you guys get this car?” The two detectives momentarily glanced at each other, also having no idea. They initially thought it was the headquarters during their supposed mission in Japan, but after finding out the fraudulent file, Eclipse’s whereabouts remained a mystery since. 

“We’re actually not sure either. It’s a pretty long story.” Afterwards, Heejin summarized some past events to Mia, who nodded along as she frowned. 

“Interesting…so, Eclipse is just yours now?” 

“I guess so. Isn’t she cool?? There’s so many functions you can try out.”

As Hyunjin continued driving, she side eyed her partner, trying to send the message about something else that happened before their fraud mission. Honestly, if Heejin wasn’t going to mention Diamond House soon, then she’ll just have to take matters into her own hands. The two best friends went on and on about Eclipse’s mechanics and commands, even experimenting for themselves. Hyunjin groaned once more as she had to go through this messy process again. Soon, Mia was sipping from a small carton of banana milk while Heejin had mango. While they stayed on the same highway towards the dock, she learned more about Eclipse and was extremely fascinated on how much the car could do. And before Mia knew it, she finally reached the end of the manual and perked up. But just before closing, she noticed something sticking out in the lower corner of the last page. Curious, Mia peeled it, which opened up more and more and more. And  _ more _ . Her eyes widened as she continued spreading the manual until it was the size of an entire map of the world.

“You guys.” 

“Hm?” 

“Yeah?” Hyunjin and Heejin responded back, questioning. 

“I think you might want to pull over really quick.”

* * *

_In an Unknown city..._

Jieqiong scrunched open her eyes, rubbing them as the bright sunlight brought by morning rather rudely woke her up. It was bright and windy at such an early hour that she couldn’t help but try to fall back asleep for another five minute or so, only to go on her phone shortly after. Then later followed with freshening up in the bathroom and making breakfast in the kitchen. She’d heard shuffling on the living room couch, which Hyejoo had been sleeping on the whole night. Jieqiong offered for them to switch places the previous night and being the stubbornly nice person Hyejoo was, she politely declined. When Jieqiong finally finished with cooking before dividing up the food in two dishes for both of them. Hyejoo looked down at her plate and honestly, she’d be lying if she wasn’t impressed by how amazing it looked. The older woman saw this and rolled her eyes.

“Don’t look so surprised.” 

“I just haven’t had food like this in a while.” 

“Then eat up, so I don’t have to see you snooping through my fridge again.” 

It was Hyejoo’s turn to scoff. “I wasn’t snooping. I was only curious.”

“Curious enough to snatch my only pine of Oreo flavored ice cream?” They both shared a laugh as Jieqiong lightly teased before she changed the subject. “Anyways, I’ll take you back to your apartment after this.” 

“Alright….” She chewed at her food for a bit. “By the way. Do you mind, um…telling me how my friends are doing right now?” 

The older woman looked at her momentarily, then sighed. “I’m sure they’re fine.” Jieqiong answered as she continued to finish her breakfast. 

“Please. It’s all I ask…I want to hear her voice again….” Hyejoo gave her a hopeful look and only then did she finally relent. 

“Alright, alright, fine. I’ll just, call an acquaintance.”

Jieqiong always hesitated doing this, but if it stopped the younger girl from nagging too much then it was a fine excuse. At least she hoped. The older woman almost pitied her slightly too much, especially the first time meeting Hyejoo. Poor kid was beaten up to a pulp when Jieqiong was called into a room. There, she offered to look after her for the following future. Though even now, Jieqiong felt like she didn’t quite learn much about Hyejoo despite knowing the kid for over two years. As they both waited for the person to pick up, Jieqiong recalled the numerous events where she’d put her in timeouts and restrained her for attempting to escape. And god knows how many times that was. It took a while to finally befriend Hyejoo since the kid just really wouldn’t talk to her for the first few months. Jieqiong’s thoughts were interrupted when a familiar voice suddenly spoke up on the speaker.

_ “Sup, Kyulkyung.” _

“Hey. I got you on speaker.” She informed the caller before passing the phone to Hyejoo. 

“Uh…h-hello?”

_ “Haha, you again. Missed us too much, Hye?” _

The person’s tone was obviously mocking, which ticked her off a bit. “Do you ever shut up?” Hyejoo muttered under her breath, causing Jieqiong to slightly glare and mutely warn her. 

_ “I’m delighted you called at such a convenient time as well. You know, everyone is currently minding their own business. Most of us anyway.” _

“What are you trying to say?” 

_ “Heejin and Hyunjin aren’t here right now, being a bit too busy to hang around. Haseul and Vivi are busy investigating, Sooyoung doing whatever, Jiwoo and Chaewon playing some games like always. Shuhua, on her computer 24/7, then there’s Yuqi about to leave.” _

“No point in referring to yourself in third person.” Weirdo. An insult she wanted to say but knew she couldn’t. “Who’s Yuqi?”

_ “Oh, right. You’ve been gone for so long, y'all haven’t met each other yet.”  _ Hyejoo rolled her eyes when she heard a chuckle.  _ “She became a new member four months ago.” _

“I see. Anyways…can you put Chaewon on the speaker?” 

_ “Ah, ah. What’s the magic word?” _ Relentlessly teasing as ever. 

Hyejoo gritted her teeth, taking a deep breath. “Put her on the speaker  _ please?” _

_ “And why do you want that, hm?” _

“So I can hear her voice.” She requested rather impatiently, only because the person was pushing this more than necessary. After another chuckle, Hyejoo and Jieqiong heard the phone placed on a solid surface. Then they waited for voices in the distance. The younger girl perked when she heard someone. 

_ “Chaewonnie! Why did you run me over?! We’re on the same team!”  _ It was Jiwoo. Then a cute laughter sounded that Hyejoo had grown to love. 

_ “Sorry, unnie! I like messing with you.” _

_ “We needed to get to base and now I’m dead.” _

_ “Don’t worry, you’ll respawn in five minutes.” _

_ “But that takes forever~” _

Hyejoo nearly teared up when she heard her friends bickering at each other like they always did when she was still in the station with them. Especially working side by side with Chaewon. 

_ “Hey, do you guys want any more donuts? There’s still some in the bag.” _ Haseul, her beloved captain. She heard Jiwoo decline, but Chaewon on the other hand. 

_ “Oh, is there any of the glazed strawberry jam filling left?”  _ Hyejoo chuckled slightly, remembering all the times she’d gifted that for her every morning at the bakery. She knew right off the bat Chaewon would ask for that. 

_ “Yeah, there’s one more.” _

_ “I’ll take it.”  _ Haseul handed it to the blonde girl as she chewed when Jiwoo suddenly shouted. 

_ “Watch out for the sniper! He’s on the tower!” _

_ “Whoa! Got’ em!”  _

_ “…how did you do that with just a handgun?” _

_ “I learned from the best.” _ Hyejoo once taught her that when they were playing PUBG. She couldn’t help but slightly tear up at the memory, which was when Jieqiong knew it was time’s up. Suddenly, they both heard shifting and footsteps, leading further away from Jiwoo and Chaewon. The person had picked up the phone. 

_ “Enjoy yourself yet, Hye?”  _ She chose not to respond.  _ “As long as you stay there, everyone else will be safe.” _

“If you hurt any of my friends, I swear to god I’ll—” Jieqiong abruptly placed her hand on Hyejoo’s wrist, knowing exactly what she was about to say. “You get the point.”

_ “Whatever threats you come up with won’t scare me.” _ The person giggled before continuing.  _ “Heejin and Hyunjin are having quite a fun time searching for you. But,”  _ they paused, holding the suspenseful part,  _ “word gets around easily. We’ll see if they ever live before they even get close to finding you.” _

“YOU BITCH!!”

  
  


** _Call Ended_ **

  
  


Hyejoo screamed and went berserk, instinctively standing up with her arm raised to toss Jieqiong’s phone down on the ground, intending for it to break just so it could satisfy her anger, but thankfully, she was immediately apprehended by the woman herself. “HYEJOO! STOP IT!”

“LET GO OF ME!”

Quickly grabbing her phone to throw it on her couch, Jieqiong hastily wrapped her arm around her shoulders while restraining every limb. She tightly hugged the young girl, thus preventing any sort of attempt to escape as they fell to the ground. Hyejoo was panting as her urge to destroy things was rampant in her mind. Jieqiong held the kid as much as possible and in a way, she was trying to comfort her, as if telling Hyejoo this wasn’t the solution. When things finally calmed down, Jieqiong eventually released her. The younger girl practically laid on the ground, seemingly giving up on everything as she curled up into a ball. Hyejoo’s expression was blank and stared off into nothing in particular. As Jieqiong got up to her feet, she sighed at this.

“Come on, kid. Get up.” 

“No.” Muttering under her breath. 

“I won’t ask again.” 

“Don’t wanna go back there….” 

“So you want to stay another night?” Jieqiong bent down a bit to see her face. Hyejoo hesitated momentarily, before shyly nodding. The older woman sighed once more. “Fine. You can take my bed tonight. You need it more than me.”

Hyejoo didn’t say anything back as the older woman went back to the kitchen table, grabbing both of their bowls and wrapped them up to place in her fridge. She knew both of them lost their appetite that morning, unfortunately. Jieqiong didn’t admit it, but she was also frustrated with the person mocking and teasing Hyejoo to no end. And honestly, there wasn’t a clue as to why. Jieqiong sympathized with the younger girl, but she could only do so much to ease her pain. Any wrong move Hyejoo pulls, it’s over for both of them. 

After a while, she finally pulled the kid up from the ground, which took longer than necessary since Hyejoo was so stubborn. Jieqiong convinced her to take a nap, despite it still being early morning. Honestly at this point, she wanted a break from whatever all of that had occurred a few minutes ago. Thus, the woman plopped down on her couch and turned on the TV, watching whatever show was currently available. And before she noticed, a whole hour passed, Jieqiong sighed and laid back on the head rest. Beside her laid her cell phone that Hyejoo nearly obliterated. Picking it up, she decided to play some games on there and check through some notifications, which led her to the contacts apps. After casually scrolling out of boredom, one quickly caught her eye and she froze. The initials read “KT”. Jieqiong was hesitant about whether or not to send a message.

“Ah, screw it. I have to report soon anyways.” She texted away and their conversation continued on for the rest of the day….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait! Hope you enjoyed this update :DD


	33. Sorry and Thank You

Hello dear readers, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue this AU. It was fun to write and plan while it lasted, but we both decided on setting it aside after realizing writing it was no longer what we wanted to do. We’re really sorry for those who expected longer updates, we had so much planned but with our lack of interest and staying consistent, it couldn't be helped, we truly wanted to end this story with an impactful finale. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much for coming along with us on this two year long journey. 


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